Paul Anderson reveals exactly how Peaky Blinders was 'meant to end'

Warning: This articles contains spoilers for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

Having aired on our screens over nine years, Peaky Blinders as we know it has come to an end with a new film.

Released in cinemas last Friday (6 March) before it lands on Netflix, it features many old and new faces. But while Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) is of course present, his fellow OG, his brother Arthur, is no where to be seen.

Well, those who have watched Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man will know he has somewhat of a presence but the actor who plays him, Paul Anderson, does not feature.

And he tells LADbible that this film wasn't quite how things were supposed to an end, as he explains to us what the original plan was.

Anderson has a lot of love for the creator, Steven Knight, who he ‘adores’ as he reveals a conversation the pair once had about the show’s fate.

This follows the 48-year-old telling us he was ‘apprehensive’ about the idea of a Peaky film, believing people should be left ‘wanting more’.

“But maybe Steven wanted to finish it,” he says.

Apparently, the writer ‘always wanted to finish the series with the siren ringing for the Second World War’.

However, this evidently must have changed over time, as with a follow-up sequel series confirmed, the movie has been referred to as the ‘end of a novel’ and takes place partway through the war.

The actor claims Peaky was supposed to come to an end with the three brothers. (BBC)

Anderson says Knight ‘never got his perfect ending’ as he explains: “He wanted it with Joe [who played John Shelby], Cillian and I. We hear the bells, and the siren rings our for the Second World War.”

Essentially, the actor says the idea was supposed to be that ‘it starts all over again’ with the three brothers’ children then entering the war.

Of course, this would mirroring the chaos of the show's first series, which was set just as the First World War had come to an end.

“Off go our children to fight – that was how he wanted to end it,” Anderson adds, reflecting this dark circle of life.

“He [Knight] explained it all to me, the cameras were gonna pan up, over Birmingham, you’d hear the sirens, the ‘we’re at war with Germany’ and that’s it.

“That’s how it was gonna end but a lot’s happened since then.”

Anderson told LADbible he thinks Arthur's end in the film is 'great'. (BBC)

And there really has been a lot since then, with a gaping plot hole in this supposed ending being that Joe Cole chose to leave Peaky Blinders in season three, with John killed off in the opening of season four.

Anderson, who tells us he has never actually watched a full episode of the show, does however think the new film is ‘amazing’ even if it wasn’t quite how things were apparently supposed to work out.

“It doesn’t matter what we think of it, or what I think about it – or anyone for that matter,” he adds. “It’s about what the fans think and if they don’t like it, we’re at the mercy of them.”

Well, even if it’s not quite how it was ‘supposed to end’, the new film is currently sitting an impressive 91 and 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes so it seems fans are pretty happy.

As for Anderson, his time as Arthur may have come to an end but he's set to feature in new film Fortitude and is currently appearing in the US-released, The Gray House.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is now in select cinemas and will be available to stream on Netflix from 20 March.