Everything you need to know before watching Peaky Blinders movie as new film lands on Netflix
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is finally making it's Netflix debut today, 20 March, so it's the perfect time to brush up on the Shelby family saga.
It's been four years since the Peaky Blinders finale first dropped, so even the most devoted fans who live and breathe the show will need something of a refresher.
Whilst you could simply watch the three key episodes that Steven Knight recommended as must-watches before the film arrives, there is a lot that happens in season six.
The final season perfectly sets the stage for all of the chaos which unfolds in Steven Knight's new feature film, which is arriving on Netflix today, a fortnight after it released in cinemas.
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The screenwriter, 66, previously stated that people can still become immersed in the movie without having ever encountered the fictional world of Peaky Blinders before.
"You can come to the movie without ever seeing the series and still get it, and hopefully, love it," Knight said.
Rebecca Ferguson reiterated this message during an appearance on the Today show alongside Cillian Murphy last week too, saying 'you can watch it without having seen the six seasons'.
But as Cillian perfectly put it, those who tuned into the extraordinary series are at an advantage, as they are armed with '36 hours of backstory'.
This will therefore allow you to gain a better understanding of all of the minute details and references that Knight has expertly weaved into Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Take a look at the trailer for it here:
Instead of seeking out a blow-by-blow of 36 Peaky Blinders episodes though, you're probably much better off bringing yourself back up to speed on the sixth and final series.
The beloved Birmingham gangster, Tommy Shelby, had a lot on his plate throughout these half a dozen episodes.
Despite going sober in wake of the death of Aunt Polly (the late Helen McCrory) to concentrate on his political ambitions, he ends up being driven back to drink because of the chaos surrounding him. He's juggling responsibilities on both sides of the Atlantic, still battling his PTSD from his Flanders days and continues to grapple with grief after losing his wife Grace.
Between warring with his cousin Michael, trying to scupper Oswald Mosley's political plans, being a dad and keeping the Peaky Blinders in check, he had a lot going on. Things get a hell of a lot worse for Tommy when his darling daughter, Ruby, is diagnosed with tuberculosis and later dies.
The death of Ruby sends Tommy down a dark path in the final season
Her death sees him spiral into a deep depression, while his marriage to Lizzie crumbles too.
So, when his longtime medic Doctor Holford (Aneurin Barnard) informed him he had an inoperable brain tumour and about 18 months left to live, it came as something as a relief to Tommy.
He decided to get all of his affairs in order and go out on his own terms, rather than wait for death to creep up on him. Tommy burns his pad to the ground, hosts a farewell dinner and intends to bow out gracefully - however, his daughter Ruby then visits him in a vision, telling him he's 'not even sick' and must live.
Using a few scraps of a newspaper to relight his campfire, he spots something which changes everything on one of the pages. Tommy clocks a picture of Dr Holford attending Oswald Mosley's wedding and it dawns on him that the physician has actually been fooling him into thinking he was terminally ill.
Peaky Blinders fans saw how Tommy hunted down the deceitful doctor with the intention of taking his life. But, surprisingly to many, he doesn't follow through with it and spares Dr Holford's life after a showdown.
It's fair to say that his head is battered by this point - and when he returns to the caravan he's been camping out in, he finds it ablaze, with all his belongings inside.
Where do we leave Tommy at the end of season six?
His life has literally just gone up in smoke and in the final shot from series six, we see Tommy galloping off into the sunset on the back of a white horse. This ambiguous ending allowed viewers to make their own assumptions about his fate. But now, you can finally find out how accurate your theories were - as you can see how Tommy's story really wraps up in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Whilst the most important character in the show is of course Tommy Shelby, the final season also ties up loose ends for several other characters.
How was Duke Shelby introduced?
The character of Duke is taken over by Barry Keoghan in the film, playing a huge role in The Immortal Man, but he actually appeared in season six of the series.
Played by Conrad Khan, Duke is introduced as Tommy's son he previously had no idea existed.
The character is revealed to be the son of a gypsy woman called Zelda who Tommy has a brief tryst with before he went away to fight in World War One.
He is brought into the Shelby family however and by the end of the season is playing a pretty key role.
What happened to Finn Shelby and why is he not in the film?
Finn Shelby is the least talked about core member of the Shelby family but he grows from a young child to a young man over the course of the six seasons of the show.
Finn is booted from the Shelby family by Duke in the finale of the show however after it was revealed that the young Shelby betrayed the gang.
Whilst there has been some speculation that he may return for the upcoming sequel series set a decade after, Duke's banishment appears to have been effective as Finn does not return for the movie.
Who died in the final season?
Peaky Blinders has taken some pretty bold moves, such as killing John Shelby off in season four, but this goes even further in the final season.
The first to die in the show happened due to tragic real-life events, with the death of Helen McCrory forcing Steven Knight to write off Aunt Polly who is killed off screen by the IRA.
Tommy's pain continues however with the aforementioned death of his daughter Ruby from consumption, but the final death of the show is one taken by Tommy's hand.
His cousin Michael returns in a big way in season six, blaming Tommy for the death of Aunt Polly. In the end however Tommy ends up killing him himself, putting a stop to their feud once and for all.
Additional words from Michael Slavin.
Topics: Cillian Murphy, Netflix, Peaky Blinders, TV and Film, Film, TV
Olivia Burke