Is ‘Peaky Blinders’ Based on a True Story?

Peaky Blinders Season 6 — the show’s final season — just landed on Netflix on June 10. If you’re looking to get into the crime show, now’s the perfect time to start. You may, however, have some questions — like, for example, is the period piece based on a true story? We have all the answers you need.

Created by Steven Knight, Peaky Blinders is set in Birmingham, England in 1919 and follows the gangster Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), who leads the ever-powerful Peaky Blinders gang. But when his ambitions run high, Tommy decides to break free from the mold and start doing more legitimate business. He battles foes, inspectors, and other hedonistic forces in the aftermath of the Great War. The most recent season, Season 5, followed the events following Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929) in England, and led up to rallies led by fascist leader Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin).

So, clearly, real historical events are at play. But does that mean the entirety of Peaky Blinders is based on a true story? Let’s take a look.

Is Peaky Blinders based on a true story?

Yes, Peaky Blinders is actually based on a true story. Well, kind of. Technically, Peaky Blinders follows the Shelby family, a gang of outlaws who infiltrated late 19th-century England — the Shelby’s weren’t reported to be real people, but the Peaky Blinders gang did exist. These criminals were well-known around that time period; however, the series is highly dramatized and fictionalized to create as much drama as possible. Most of the Peaky Blinders gang was around in the 1890s, not the 1920s like the show. They lost power in 1910s to the rival gang The Birmingham Boys, and never gained as much political power as Tommy does in the series.

Is Peaky Blinders based on a novel?

No, Peaky Blinders is merely based on the idea of the original Peaky Blinders gang and historical Birmingham, England. But if you’re looking to read about the Peaky Blinders gang, check out Carl Chinn’s The Real Peaky Blinders, which examines the gang.

Will there be a Peaky Blinders Season 7 on Netflix?

Sadly, no. Series creator Steven Knight told Deadline, “While the TV series is coming to an end, the show will continue in another form.”

So … you’re telling me there’s a chance?

According to reports from Variety, the film is set to start production in 2023, so there’s a little way to go until we’re able to watch the first (of hopefully many) Peaky Blinders movies. While there are no solid details about either the casting or the plot of this movie, Knight told the Radio Times, “I know what’s going to happen in those stories, and it’s about a sort of untold story that happened in the Second World War, which Peakys are going to be involved in.” We CANNOT wait!