The latest series of Peaky Blinders will air this weekend – but for the first time in the show’s history, it will be without Helen McCrory in the role of the family matriarch Polly Gray.
The stars of the show have said that filming episodes without the actor, who died of cancer in April 2021, has felt ‘off-kilter and wrong’.
Cillian Murphy stars as Tommy Shelby in the hit series, and said that Helen’s death after a private cancer battle was ‘unbelievably sad and difficult’.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “I’m always careful when I talk about it. I’m a friend and a colleague, but then you think about Damian [Lewis, McCrory’s husband] and their kids.
“I don’t own that grief, you know?
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Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders. Credit: BBC
“But she was a remarkable human being and a remarkable actor. It was very hard to make it without her.”
McCrory also starred as Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise.
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Sophie Rundle, who plays Ada Shelby in Peaky Blinders, said that Helen’s death was ‘a devastating thing for all of us’.
The cast have filmed a tribute to both Polly and Helen in the new series.
Sophie continued: “So in the tribute, that’s all real, that emotion. It really was a moment to think about her and what she had been.
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Helen McCrory in Peaky Blinders. Credit: BBC
“And this show wouldn’t have been what it is without her, I really believe that. I really believe that she was fundamental to making Peaky what it is and elevating it to be more than just the script, so it was a huge loss and it was just incredibly sad.”
The show’s creator Steven Knight said that he had originally written Polly into the final season, but changed the script when ‘it became apparent that there was less and less she would be able to do’.
He said to the Radio Times: “The loss of the human being, the loss of Helen is the tragedy. That’s the thing. The loss of the character is infinitesimal compared to that. However, it’s our job to deal with that.
“To begin with, Polly was in the series and then incrementally bit by bit, it became apparent that there was less and less she would be able to do. And so in the end, we’d reached a point where we knew that she couldn’t be in it at all.
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“And then you have to first of all deal with the consequences in terms of the story, taking a moment to deal with the loss of the character, but then knowing that that has a reflection in the real world with the loss of the person. So it was trying to balance all of that, and I think we’ve done it right.”
The sixth season of Peaky Blinders will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm on Sunday February 27.
Featured image: BBC
TV & Showbiz
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
More adult virgins needed for next series of Channel 4’s hit reality show Virgin Island
Emily Sergeant
Channel 4 is back looking for more adult virgins to take part in the potential next series of its hit reality show Virgin Island.
You may remember that early last year, we brought you the breaking highly-important news that Channel 4 was currently in the process of producing a new reality TV series that, at the time, had the working title of ‘The Intimacy Retreat’ and was looking for a group of adult virgins to apply to take part, if they were brave enough.
But now, well over a year on, we all know that show turned out to be the hit show Virgin Island – which has just finished airing its first series this week.
Channel 4 needs more adult virgins for the potential next series of its hit reality TV show Virgin Island / Credit: Channel 4
If you’re unfamiliar with Virgin Island, it’s unlike anything ever seen on TV before, as it follows the journey of a group of adult virgins who are whisked off to a Mediterranean island retreat to learn life-changing skills in the art of intimacy.
Working with leading international therapists, the aim is to help the young people overcome their fears and insecurities when it comes to intimacy and sex.
Channel 4 said it chose to commission the show after a recent study into intimacy found out that one in eight British 26-year-olds is, apparently, still a virgin.
Virgin Island aims to help young people overcome their insecurities around intimacy and sex / Credit: Channel 4
A casting call for the new series on the Channel 4 website reads: “Are you a virgin and do you need help and guidance with your fears and insecurities around intimacy and sex? Double Act Productions is casting adults for a potential second series of Virgin Island.”
You just need to be over 21 years of age to take part in the show.
Fancy it then? Or know someone who may be up for the ride? Applications for the potential next series of Virgin Island are now open, and there’s still plenty of time left to put your name down.
Daisy Jackson -
25th February 2022 
