Series six of Peaky Blinders will air this weekend, with audiences transported back to post-war Birmingham.
The much-loved Shelby family are returning to our screens for the next instalment of the smash-hit gangster drama.
There’ll be a notable absence in season six though – Helen McCrory, who played matriarch Polly Gray, sadly died last April after a private cancer battle.
A tribute to the actor is believed to air in the season premiere this week.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the return of Peaky Blinders.
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What is the release date for Peaky Blinders season six?
Cillian Murphy will be back in season six of Peaky Blinders. Credit: BBC
Producers finally revealed the release date for the sixth instalment of Peaky Blinders last week.
Creator Steven Knight had previously said they were aiming for a springtime release – but fans were pleasantly surprised by how early the episodes will begin.
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The release date was revealed with a huge mural painted by Manchester’s mural king and legendary street artist, Akse P19.
It’s all set to kick off on Sunday February 27 from 9pm.
It’s then set to air one episode a week at 9pm on Sundays.
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Where to watch Peaky Blinders season six
Tommy and Arthur Shelby in Peaky Blinders. Credit: BBC
Although the previous series of Peaky Blinders are all available to watch on Netflix, it won’t be the streaming platform that gets first dibs on the new episodes.
Episodes will only air once a week, and there’s expected to be six in total, as in previous series.
Where was season six filmed?
The Peaky Blinders cast in a previous series filming at Victoria Baths in Manchester. Credit: BBC
A lot of the scenes in the final instalment of Peaky Blinders were filmed right here in Manchester, despite the drama being based in Birmingham.
Huge sets were built around Castlefield, with the ancient cobbled streets transformed into both Chinatown and Small Heath.
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Crews even built a mock frontage for the Garrison pub, which is owned by the Shelby family.
Cillian Murphy was also spotted filming scenes on a narrowboat on the canals in Castlefield.
It’s not the first time the drama has visited our city – scenes from previous series were shot around Mangle Street, London Road Fire Station, Victoria Baths and Stockport Plaza.
What happened at the end of the last series?
If you haven’t watched season five yet – stop reading now, spoilers lie ahead.
It was an action-packed few weeks with the Shelby family, including plenty of sex, violence and politics.
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The season began with the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the decimation of the Shelby finances, which drives a huge wedge between Tommy and Michael (Polly’s son).
Meanwhile, Tommy is now MP for Birmingham South, and feeding information about fascist Oswald Mosley to British intelligence services.
At the end of the series, Tommy’s attempt to assassinate Mosley in an elaborate plan backfires, resulting in the death of Polly’s fiance Aberama Gold.
The bold cliffhanger saw Tommy’s PTSD in full, devastating effect, with the show’s star strolling into a field with a gun to his head.
Will he pull the trigger? We’ll soon find out.
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What has the creator said?
Steven Knight has confirmed that this will be the last series of Peaky Blinders, but a feature-length film is planned to properly tie things up.
In an interview with the BBC, Knight said: “I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I would just say: Tommy is about to face enemies and demons more powerful than anything he’s ever faced before.
“It’s the mid 1930s, fascism is on the rise, the Shelbys are more powerful than ever. But demons are coming to reclaim Tommy Shelby.
“What I’ve wanted from the beginning is to start off with a character who seems irredeemable. Who is switched off completely; whose humanity has been torn out of him by his experiences in the war.
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“And then slowly bring him back to life, to turn him back into a human being over the however many hours that we’ve done. And I think at the end of six, for all the bad things that he’s done, Tommy is a human being.”
Featured image: BBC
TV & Showbiz
Legendary Bury Black Pudding reveals secrets – including powdered blood
Daisy Jackson
Bury Black Pudding is one of Greater Manchester’s most famous and excellent exports, creating a breakfast staple that puts the borough on the culinary map.
This familiar sight on a full English breakfast has been being made using a traditional time-honoured recipe for generations.
And while this delicious blood sausage might not be to everyone’s tastes, Bury Black Pudding is the king of them all.
It’s the leading brand in the UK, with a gold medal-winning recipe dating back more than 100 years, and has a whole variety of flavours including chilli, gluten free, vegetarian and white pudding varieties.
Recently, Bury Black Pudding revealed some of its secrets, allowing the BBC unprecedented access into its factory in Bury for an episode of Inside the Factory.
The series, hosted by Paddy McGuinness and Cherry Healey, went beneath the surface of this heritage brand, from production all the way through to packaging.
Viewers have been stunned to learn what goes into Bury Black Pudding, and it really isn’t as much of a bloody mess as your imagination might’ve led you to believe.
In fact, most of the ingredients are cereals – only 5% of it is blood.
And the blood in the blood sausage? It’s powdered.
Bury Black Pudding on BBC’s Inside the Factory. Credit: BBC
In the episode, production director Richard Morris (who has worked for Bury Black Pudding his whole life, following in his grandfather’s footsteps), said: “There’s no big tubs of blood.
“To actually transport it, it needs to be dry. And there’s also no bacteria in it, so we can use this over a 12 month period.”
Inside every delicious slice you’ll also find oatmeal, pearl barley, rusk, onions and pork fat.
Another surprising thing is the sheer size and volume of the black puddings before they’re portioned and packaged for our homes.
A 600kg batch will make about 3,000 black puddings, with the mixture added to a vacuum filler before being pumped under high pressure into recyclable plastic casings.
Hundreds of these tubes are cooked into a steam oven for an hour and 20 minutes, then sliced into the black pudding we recognise in an ultrasonic slicer.
3,000 sticks a day, five days a week, are sliced up for the shelves into around 120,000 slices.
Speaking of the opportunity to appear on Inside the Factory, brand and marketing manager Matthew McDermid said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the heritage and passion that goes into making our black pudding.
“We are incredibly proud of our history and our role in bringing this traditional product to consumers, we can’t wait for the nation to see how the UK’s leading brand of black pudding is made.”
Manchester streaming platform StreamGM unveils four-part creative industry careers podcast
Thomas Melia
A new four-partpodcast by StreamGM featuring some of Greater Manchester’s top creatives has launched with the aim of powering creative careers.
Produced by Rebecca Swarray, a.k.a. ‘RebeccaNeverBecky’ – the founder of the Manchester events and arts collective – this podcast is designed to “ignite and elevate creative careers in music.”
Swarray deep dives into the current Manc music scene and beyond with the help of fellow insiders who vary upon each episode.
There are four parts in this latest series and there’s lots to cover, especially in an industry that’s ever-changing and ever-challenging.
Some of the guests and speakers you can expect to listen to on ‘ICAM’ (In Conversations and Masterclasses)Credit: StreamGM/The Manc Group
Listeners can expect to learn all about ‘Women Behind The Music’ as part of the In Conversations and Masterclasses series with Sophie Bee, Sara Garvey and Kat Brown.
The next episode delves into another key music industry area, ‘Promoters, Venues And Events’, which is broken down by Baz Plug One, Strutty, Tashadean Wood and Liv McCafferty.
‘Artist Development And Management’ features Karen Boardman, Karen Gabay, Damian Morgan, and Via Culpan deep in discussion.
The final episode in this four-part series is ‘Videography And Photography In The Creative Industries’, which sees Johan Reitan, Alice Kanako and Ahmani Vidal talking all things visual.
These four features will be an incredible resource for any creative talents as it put together by professionals for upcoming professionals of any age from any background, race, gender and walk of life.
After all, that’s what is all about, right?
Abbreviated to ‘ICAM’, the podcast is certainly one to check out, with for aspiring artist managers, producers, photographers, promoters—anyone driven to make their mark in music and events.
These podcast sessions understand industry challenges, explore career journeys, creative influences, crisis management and lots more creative field concerns.
You can find the first episode in full down below:
The first episode of the new limited StreamGM podcast.
This run of shows is the second instalment by StreamGM: Greater Manchester’s phenomenal streaming platform dedicated to all things music, nightlife and culture.
Whether you’re a budding creative arts talent or just curious to find out insights into this wonderful innovative industry, you can listen to all the episodes from the series directly on StreamGM HERE.
Elsewhere in Greater Manchester music news, another very special event is kicking off very soon:
Daisy Jackson -
25th February 2022 
