Steven Knight, the creator of successful Birmingham gangster series Peaky Blinders, has long discussed his plans for six seasons and a movie. The recent tragic death of Helen McCrory, who played Shelby family matriarch Aunt Polly, has led some fans to wonder what the film might look like and if she has a role to play in it.
Speaking to The Radio Times, Knight said; “The death of the human being is the tragedy. The death of the character is something you can deal with, and hopefully we dealt with it in a suitable way. Helen was so brilliant. When anything happened in the rest of the series, I wanted people to think, ‘What would Polly say?’ It’s like a family when someone passes away, their opinion remains in the house. Polly’s opinion is going to last.”
When asked whether that would still be the case in the upcoming movie, Knight replied; “Absolutely. She’s such a fundamental part of what Peaky is; her presence rules.” It is likely that McCrory would feature in flashback form, or at least be referred to, in the story which likely to place during the Second World War.
The sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy, is airing on BBC One in the UK at the moment. American fans will have to wait until June for the Shelbys to land on Netflix. The season features the core regular actors, plus Anya Taylor-Joy, Tom Hardy, Sam Claflin and Stephen Graham.
Helen McCrory also starred in the Harry Potter movies, Penny Dreadful, Skyfall, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, Doctor Who and played Cherie Blair in The Queen. She died in April 2021 before doing any filming for season 6 of Peaky Blinders.
If you’re in the US and still waiting for the final season of Peaky Blinders to cross the Atlantic, check out our guide to the best Netflix series.