Series creator Steven Knight has confirmed that Tommy Shelby himself, Cillian Murphy, will be returning for the film adaptation of Peaky Blinders.
Talk of a Peaky Blinders movie has been rumbling ever since the final season of the hit British gangster show began airing back in 2022, but full confirmation of a feature-length film came back in January, with Knight insisting that filming would begin by September this year.
Better still, screenwriter and director Steven Knight (also known for other BBC cult favourites like Taboo) has now cleared up the confusion and speculation as to whether lead actor Cillian Murphy will be returning for the next installation in the Peaky Blinders franchise.
In a word, his answer was “Definitely”.
Cillian Murphy will officially return for the ‘PEAKY BLINDERS’ movie. 🎬
Now confirmed by the creator himself, Cillian Murphy will ‘definitely’ be in the Peaky Blinders film.
Speaking to local Midlands outlet Birmingham World, Knight said that not only have the finishing touches been put on the final script for the film but that the 47-year-old and now Oscar-winning actor is signed on to reprise his role as the head of the Shelby family, Tommy.
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Interviewed on the red carpet at the premiere of his latest BBC project This Town, the 64-year-old said: “He definitely is returning for it. We’re shooting it in September just down the road in Digbeth.”
A good chunk of the show was famously filmed right here in Greater Manchester at the likes of the Stockport Plaza, along the Castlefield canals and inside Rochdale Town Hall, so we’re still hoping we might get a glimpse of the Peaky Blinders crews popping back up around here at some point too.
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Knight has previously said that the plot of the film carries on the Shelby family’s story as the timeline approaches the Second World War and teased to Esquire, “I know what two stories it’s going to tell”, but revealed little else as to how they will unfold and who exactly they involve.
While there’d been plenty of debate amongst the fan base as to whether a return for the film was likely given the somewhat open-ended finale (we’re staying nothing more), he did admit in an interview with Rolling Stone last year: “If there’s more story there, I’d love to do it but it has to be right.
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“Steve Knight wrote 36 hours of television, and we left on such a high”, he continued; “I’m really proud of that last series. So, it would have to feel legitimate and justified to do more.” As it turns out, there was plenty more to say and more story to tell — at least enough for a film, anyway.
There is still no wider indication as to when we can expect the cinematic release to arrive, you can already bank on being one of the biggest releases here in Britain and the US, where the show has also grown a massive audience. Hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later.
Featured Images — BBC/Taylor Rooke (via Wikimedia Commons)
TV & Showbiz
James Acaster reveals eerie song all Traitors contestants are forced to listen to before every roundtable
Emily Sergeant
James Acaster has revealed the eerie (and pretty surprising) song that all Traitors contestants are forced to listen to before every roundtable.
In case you’ve been living comfortably under a rock, you’ll probably be aware that comedian James Acaster is currently a contestant on this current season of BBC‘s smash-hit reality TV competition show, The Celebrity Traitors – a show that viewers in their millions are tuning into each week, with some big names on the cast.
Acaster is currently (spoiler alert… but it shouldn’t be at this point, we are several weeks in after all) one of three Traitors competing on the show, and he’s doing a pretty good job at it.
But we wonder how much of his success can be put down to the producers’ love of a certain song they like to play before every roundtable? Probably next to none, but it’s surprising to find out how much of an integral role the tune plays though.
The song we’re referring to here, it has been revealed, is ‘The Hanging Tree’ – a folk ballad made popular by The Hunger Games.
‘The Hanging Tree’, composed by James Newton Howard and Suzanne Collins, was famously sung by Jennifer Lawrence’s character Katniss Everdeen in the third instalment of the film franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.
The lyrics are as follows:
Are you, are you Coming to the tree Where they strung up a man They say who murdered three? Strange things did happen here No stranger would it be If we met at midnight In the hanging tree
So, as you can see, the song does make reference to ‘murder’, which is a key part of The Traitors game (not real murder, of course), but even with that context, we’re still not sure why the producers are keen to play it out before every roundtable.
During a viral TikTok clip from an on-stage Q&A this week, Acaster revealed the song’s usage to the audience: “You all walk in silence down the corridor, and you all sit down, and they don’t announce it’s gonna happen.
“The first time this will completely blindside you, but they do it every single roundtable. They play that song from The Hunger Games, that ‘coming to the tree’ song. Like acapella, Jennifer Lawrence.”
He continued: “It was every f***ing time, it was the only song we heard the whole time we were in there, and all day I would have it in my head constantly, everyone would, I’d go ‘have you got coming to the tree in your head?’ and they’d go ‘yes, it’s in my head, again’.”
Viewers who watch the show may have spotted the song being played in the background or transition between certain scenes, but now it’s been revealed that the contestants hear it too.
Who would’ve thought?
Featured Image – Euan Cherry / BBC / Studio Lambert
TV & Showbiz
One Born Every Minute is returning to TV – and this time, it’s filmed in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The BAFTA-award winning documentary series One Born Every Minute is returning to our screens this week – and this time, it’s been filmed in Manchester.
The hit series ran for 11 seasons between 2010 and 2018, before taking a break.
But Channel 4’s acclaimed series will return from 25 October, following a whole new set of parents as they welcome new arrivals in one of the UK’s busiest maternity wards – Manchester’s St Mary’s Hospital.
Viewers will be taken back onto the wards for a new series of the observational documentary series, following the intimate, emotional journey of childbirth in 12 new episodes.
They’re promising that this latest season of One Born Every Minute will capture modern Britain, highlighting evolving family dynamics, advances in maternity care, and the real-life challenges faced by NHS staff in 2026.
Vivienne Molokwu, Senior Commissioning Editor, Reality & Entertainment and Commissioning Lead for E4 said: “Nearly 10 years on, we feel very privileged to once again follow the journey that parents embark on as they welcome their babies to the world.
“We know the roller coaster of emotions that this period brings is something that will really resonate with the E4 audience, and we cannot wait for our viewers to see how the digital age has reshaped how families navigate this stage of life.”
Will Rowson, Co-Creative Director at Dragonfly TV added: “There’s such affection for One Born Every Minute, and we’re thrilled to return to it. In the years it’s been away so much around pregnancy and maternity care has changed, making this an exciting moment to reimagine the show for an E4 audience.”
One Born Every Minute will return to E4 on Sunday 25 October at 9pm.
Danny Jones -
22nd March 2024 
