Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man takes some bold steps in how it concludes the story of the Shelby family after 13 years, six seasons, and a hit Netflix movie.
The Immortal Man does not see the return of one of the lead actors from the TV series, Paul Anderson, whose character Arthur is revealed to be dead in the first ten minutes of the film.
Paul Anderson has spoken out in support of the film, saying in an Instagram post that he hopes everyone watches it and calling creator Steven Knight a ‘true visionary’.
Despite Paul Anderson’s support, having called his character’s death ‘great’ and ‘powerful’ in an exclusive interview with LADbible, many fans have picked apart the character’s death, and even noticed a serious continuity error caused by the plot twist.
Arthur’s grave completely messes up the timeline of Peaky Blinders and is confusing fans
We discover Arthur’s death when Tommy goes to visit his grave, showing that he died December 2nd, 1938, well over a year before the film starts.
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The fact that Arthur is buried in a grave caused some confusion amongst fans of the TV series, however this isn’t actually a continuity error.
Whilst the rest of the Shelby’s are cremated in their wagons Arthur converts to Christianity in the TV series, explaining why he is given different funeral rites.
What isn’t easily explained is why his headstone says he was born in 1895 – supposedly making him 24 at the start of the season.
Arthur being 24 at the start of Peaky Blinders makes zero sense
One fan tweeted a picture of the headstone saying: “can i say i know arthur was not born in 1895…”
Another fan said: “So he was supposed to be like 24 in s1 have a day off.”
A third fan replied with a picture of a criminal record held on Arthur which showed his age as 1888.
Being born in 1895 would also have had Arthur be 19 in World War One meaning that Tommy and John, who are a couple of years younger than Arthur, would not have been able to join the army.
The other and more obvious plot hole is that Arthur Shelby does not look 24 at the start of Peaky Blinders, with Paul Anderson having been 34 when they filmed season one of the show.
Tommy has been previously understood to be 29 at the start of the show, meaning that the earlier shot from season one which suggested Arthur was born in 1888 would make more sense – putting him at 31 when the series began.
All in all it isn’t the biggest error in the world, but is definitely a confusing one for the more eagle eyed Peaky Blinders fans.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Peaky Blinders, Netflix, TV and Film, TV, Film
Michael Slavin