Tommy Shelby Dead, Barry Keoghan’s Future

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,” which premiered on Netflix on March 20.

After six seasons of “Peaky Blinders,” Tommy Shelby’s dominance in Birmingham and beyond comes to a suitably violent end in Netflix movie “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man” in which Cillian Murphy dons the iconic flat cap for a final time before meeting a suitably sticky end. But just as the British crown passes from monarch to heir immediately upon death, so the chapeau is passed from Shelby Sr. to his errant son Duke, played in the film by Barry Keoghan.

With a “Peaky Blinders” sequel spinoff on the way, which is likely to follow Duke as he matures from crown prince to Brummie kingpin, viewers haven’t seen the end of the Shelby dynasty just yet.

Ahead of the film’s theatrical release, creator Steven Knight (who is currently also writing the next installation of James Bond) sat down with Variety to discuss Tommy’s demise, the very messy fight between father and son in a pig yard — and what the future holds for Duke Shelby.

What did it feel like to write Tommy’s death?

Quite emotional, especially seeing [the premiere] the other night. Because he’s been around — for me, he’s been around since the ‘80s because I first wanted to do this for Channel 4. And it’s always the two brothers, and the younger brother was the one who becomes the leader. So, yeah, just to see the end of that — and because it’s Cillian, and because he’s done such a great job. But also, it’s a character that I’ll go into a pub somewhere, and there’ll be some bloke who’s a builder or something — you know, some bloke who doesn’t look like a fan of anything — will roll up his trouser leg and there’s Tommy Shelby tattooed on his leg.

Did you shed a tear?

I shed tears when I’m writing sometimes. And I did, I think, then.

Did you always know how he was going to go out?

No, I was trying to work that out. I was having trouble with that one, because Tommy Shelby said in the series the only person who can kill Tommy Shelby is Tommy Shelby. But I didn’t want that to happen. And then it just suddenly became quite clear.

At what point did it become clear?

Probably about a minute before I wrote it.

Meaning that it would be Duke?

Yeah. That’s got to be the way it happens. Because it’s about succession and legacy, and Tommy Shelby has always had a very curious relationship with life and death. He’s always on that tightrope — in the words of Keats, he’s half in love with easeful death — since the First World War. And it’s not just that he’s probably mortally wounded. It’s the conclusion of what his journey is: that he’s going to go and join his family and join Grace, and do that. And the fact that he asked [Duke] to use the bullet with the name on makes it part of the tradition of the succession to power for his son.

And ultimately Tommy’s dictating it, so it is still like he’s in control. Did his funeral scene end up pretty much how you wrote it in the original screenplay?

Yeah. Well, what I wanted was to be in with the mourners. And the book, obviously, is important, and I wanted the words from the book to be the thing that he leaves behind, which is fine. But then after that, to move back so that the audience are invited to the funeral but they’re not family, so you’re a long way away when you see the flame at the end. It’s almost like stepping back from a painting to get perspective. You see that actually, this is an event, and it’s on behalf of fans of the show and of Tommy Shelby as well. You were at his funeral.

We do get a glimpse inside the caravan as well. Was that something you wanted?

Well, I wanted him to be lying on money. I just thought that was quite funny. He’s lived all his life accumulating money. And now, when he dies, it’s all gonna burn, he’s taking it all with him.

That’s a great moment. Did Cillian know going into this Tommy Shelby was going to die?

Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t me saying “You’re gonna die,” and we talked about it. It sort of felt inevitable that this, the ending of this, would be with him going. I couldn’t imagine him retiring. It had to happen so then it was just a question of how and who.

Are we gonna see more of Duke in the “Peaky Blinders” spin-off?

Yes, we are.

Is it going to be with Barry?

I can’t comment.

The shootout scene between Cillian and Tim Roth outside the mortuary, amidst the horses, was that difficult to shoot?

Obviously there’s bangs. I mean, the bangs weren’t as loud for the horses at the time. The horses were fine, but we had to see them spooked. When that horse rears up in front of Cillian, and he’s standing there and he’s like [indicates with hands] this far from the hooves, that’s real, that’s not a stand-in. And that got as close as it gets to being like, “Oh, my God, this could end really badly,” but Cillian just stood there — and he’s not really a horse person — but he just stood there and the horse comes down, and he starts to calm him down for real, which I was filled with admiration for that.

Another memorable scene is the fight between Cillian and Barry in the pig yard. Was that shot in a studio or on location?

It’s on location in a really horrible little yard somewhere. And the pigs, as soon as — especially Barry, for some reason — as soon as Barry hit the deck, as soon as he’s on the ground, they’re trying to eat him. Somebody had to fight them off, and then you’re like “Let’s go again!” But, yeah, it’s all real.

So it’s real mud?

Yes. And pig shit.

Oh no.

So the original plan was to have a section of it clean – as [much as] it can be — clean mud with no pig donations, but pigs are the most lawless creatures on earth. And they just trashed the whole place. And this is day one of shooting. So I’m there, ‘cause it’s like, “Here we go, let’s start the film, good luck everyone!” Right, it’s pig shit. So, yes, they’re fighting in real mud and with real pigshit.

How many takes did they do?

I think that was quite swift. I mean, it took the whole day, and then a bit of the next though. [Cillian and Barry] are both really good, and they both understood the urgency, and I think they were both quite keen to get out of there.

I can imagine. Obviously it’s really slippery as well. Was the fight choreographed?

It was. And originally Duke fought back more and sort of prevailed for a bit, but in the end, in the edit, it felt right that when Tommy’s back, Tommy’s back, and nobody’s gonna get anywhere. So in the end, he just wins. So they went through all of that for no reason.

I suppose you stayed out of the mud?

I’m a writer, why would I get covered in mud?

Absolutely. Did you know from the beginning you’d have to recast Duke, who was played by Conran Khan in the series?

Because of age — it’s nothing to do with the actor, it’s six years later. And then once that decision was made, we started to look and there was only one person. I mean, he looks right, and he’s from the right place.

Do you think the show and film might have gone in a different direction if it hadn’t been for Helen McRory’s death? She played matriarch Polly Gray in the series until her death from cancer in 2021.

I think the fundamental story would have been the same. She would have obviously been in it. But once she’s not around, then — you never know. It’s like, I suppose, you’ve got all these magnets, which are the characters, and something’s going to be affected by that pull, and if you take that one away, then it’s gonna be different. But yeah, I mean, such a tragic loss to lose Helen. But we see her in the in the funeral, you see the photo of her.

Why did you decide to go for the format of a feature film this time rather than doing another season?

Well, the plan was to do another season and then a feature. But then the pandemic came along, and so we couldn’t do Season 7. So then we thought, well, let’s go straight to the straight to the film

Lastly, speaking of films, how’s Bond going?

I mean, I can’t give any details, obviously, but I’m loving it. It’s so much fun.

Are we going to hear things soon?

Yeeesss. [Sounds unsure] Depends on what you mean by “soon,” but yeah. I mean, things are moving along quite nicely.

This interview has been edited and condensed.