Viewers All Say They’re Missing One Thing From Peaky Blinders Series 6

The final series of Peaky Blinders has been praised by viewers as a fitting way to end the beloved series, but for many there was just one thing that kept it from being perfect.

Tommy Shelby and the gang first made their appearance on BBC Two all the way back in 2013, and over the past nine years they have made their way to BBC One as well as providing on-demand entertainment for all the fans watching them on Netflix.

Over the many years and multiple episodes, fans came to associate the show with its theme tune Red Right Hand; a song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds that describes a 'a tall handsome man' wearing a 'dusty black coat' as he arrives in a 'gathering storm'.

Writer Steven Knight has previously noted the lyrics could be used to describe Tommy Shelby, and after having long linked the song with the series, fans were saddened to realise the original track had been excluded from the final six episodes, the last of which aired last night (3 April).

There was a cover version of the track included at the end of the penultimate episode, however one viewer described the decision to exclude the original theme tune as the 'worst thing about this series', while another Twitter user said the 'iconic' theme tune was the 'only thing missing from the finale'.

After having bid farewell to Tommy in the finale, a third viewer suggested creators 'really should have ended it with the theme tune', adding: "That would have been the perfect ending."

They really should have ended it with the theme tune. That would have been the perfect ending. #PeakyBlinders

— (.x.Sarah Jane.x.) (@sassysarah_xo) April 3, 2022

Though the song is clearly a fitting choice for the series, fans may be surprised to learn it wasn't written specifically for Peaky Blinders.

Mick Harvey, guitarist and co-founder of the Bad Seeds, said the song actually has 'fairly humble beginnings', telling the New York Post much of it came from a song the band had been working on for the 1994 album Let Love In.

Knight was originally only planing to use the track in the opening episode of Peaky Blinders, but he decided to keep it as the theme tune because it linked to so many different aspects of the show.

Worst thing about this series is not using 'Red Right Hand' as the theme tune! #peakyblinders

— Miss Garner (@MissGarner74) April 3, 2022

He told the Post: "The lyrics conjure up our industrial landscape and the ‘tall handsome man’ could, of course, be Tommy Shelby. Over the series we’ve played with what the ‘Red Right Hand’ could be. The words have played over communists shaking hands, and over the reveal that Sam Neill’s Chester Campbell has connections to the fighters from Ulster.”

While the decision to exclude the theme tune from the finale proved a controversial one, most viewers at least seem to agree the show went out with a bang.