Peaky Blinders star says he’d already have died if not for rare medicine

One of the stars of hit crime drama Peaky Blinders has revealed he would already be dead if it wasn't for incredible medical advancements.

Sam Neill starred in the hit BBC show across its first two seasons as the villainous Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, who spent his time on the streets of Birmingham trying to bring down Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and his criminal empire.

A New Zealander who was born in Northern Ireland, Neill has had an incredible career that has included iconic roles such as Dr Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise, starring in three films in the franchise across a 19-year period.

Now aged 77, Neill bravely revealed last year that he was diagnosed with stage-three cancer.

It was a topic he spoke about in his memoir Did I Ever Tell You This, released shortly after his announcement following his time writing it during his chemotherapy treatment in 2022.

Thankfully in remission since his treatment ended, Neill has been extremely honest about how his fate could have been so very different.

Diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, which is a form of blood cancer, his chemotherapy stopped working three months after treatment had begun.

It saw Neill turn to a rare, unnamed anti-cancer drug to try and treat his cancer; a drug that thankfully led him in to his remission stage.

Sam Neill is still working after his rare cancer treatment saw him placed into remission (Gregg DeGuire/Variety via Getty Images)

Speaking about his treatment on an appearance with Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time podcast, Neill said: "I’m in remission and as you see, I’m hard at work and enjoying life immensely.

"I’m very grateful for not just the wonderful care I’ve had from doctors and nurses and so on. But also the strides that have been made in treating these things in the last few years.

"If this had happened to me 20 years ago, I wouldn’t be around to talk to you.

“I go in for treatment once a month now. But it used to be three times a month and it’s down to once a month now."

Neill said he tends to have 'three or four horrible days' after having the treatment before it calms down and he can go about normal life.

An iconic film that formed a part of millions of childhoods when it was released (Murray Close/Getty Images)

But despite it working for him, Neill says he is aware it will not work forever.

"I'm prepared for that," he said.

Neill's time on Peaky Blinders saw him play Chester Campbell, who was hired by Winston Churchill to locate and recover missing weapons that had been stolen by Tommy Shelby.

In chasing after Shelby, he was more than happy to use brutal methods to get what he wanted; carrying out criminal acts of his own in his quest to uphold the law.

He came to a sticky end in the season two finale, shot in the stomach by Polly Gray (Helen McCrory) in a phone booth.