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.
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“I don’t own that grief, you know?
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
Brian McFadden’s ‘free Botox and fillers’ face has shocked fans
Daisy Jackson
Former Westlife star Brian McFadden has shocked his followers after sharing his swollen, deformed face.
The singer joked that he’d had ‘free Botox and fillers’ after he had an alarming allergic reaction to a bee sting.
Despite his puffy appearance, he saw the funny side, and shared a video of him singing along to Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO.
In the video, 42-year-old Brian is clearly struggling to speak through his swollen lips and tongue.
Golfer Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston commented: “1st beer of the night to last beer.”
His daughters Molly and Lilly respectively commented: “What have I told you about getting lip fillers off of Amazon ???!!”, and “You must’ve really pissed off your plastic surgeon.”
Denise Van Outen wrote: “Jeez.”
Brian has now updated on his encounter with the bee, sharing a photo of his face looking a bit more normal with the caption: “My face is calming down again. Thanks for all your lovely messages.”
Featured image: Instagram, @brianmcfadden123
TV & Showbiz
PrettyLittleThing advert banned for ‘sexualising’ teen TikTok star Alabama Barker
Daisy Jackson
A PrettyLittleThing advert that starred musician Travis Barker’s daughter Alabama has been banned for ‘sexualising’ the 16-year-old.
The content creator, who has almost three million followers on TikTok and is a budding musician in her own right, was named as an ambassador of the fashion brand back in April.
But a campaign that featured the young star has now been banned by the Advertising Standards Agency, who found that the advert ‘depicted a person who was under 18 in a sexual way’.
The ASA said the Alabama Barker campaign was ‘irresponsible’ and ‘highlighted Ms Barker’s young age’ through its promotion of its Y2K collection.
Alabama Barker has appeared in a new campaign with PrettyLittleThing. Credit: Boohoo Group Plc
The images used in the PrettyLittleThing campaign include her ‘lying on a bed and licking her lips in a sexually suggestive manner’, crouching down in a way that ‘her buttocks were almost visible’, and ‘spraying a water hose which was positioned between her legs’.
The ruling also noted images where Alabama was sucking a lollipop and clutching her chest.
PrettyLittleThing has now been ordered not to use the advert in its current form, and to ensure ‘future ads did not include images that portrayed or represented anyone who was, or seemed to be, under 18 in a sexual manner’.
The Manchester-based fashion brand said it did not intend to sexualise Alabama Barker, and that the campaign was intended to be ‘girly, colourful, fun and playful’.
They said that she ‘posed in a similar style to images that could be seen on her own Instagram account‘.
They also defended the hosepipe image, saying that ‘cooling down on the lawn on a hot day fitted the intended Y2K aesthetic’, and that open-mouthed poses are ‘currently popular with young people on social media’.