Peaky Blinders boss lifts lid on 'incredible' show revealing unseen side to Tommy Shelby

Fans of Peaky Blinders, desperate to fill the hole left by the BBC Birmingham gangster series, can now get a little fix of the Shelby family, ahead of the forthcoming Netflix film.

Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby is coming the legendary Sadler's Wells Theatre this month after the 2022 ballet production’s successful UK and European tours.

In an exclusive interview with Reach Screen Time, Peaky Blinders creator and now James Bond screenwriter Steven Knight shared details from the stage show, including teasing a different side to Tommy Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy in the BBC series) and how the story fitted it into the TV drama.

The stage show charts the ill-fate romance between Tommy and his wife Grace Burgess (Annabelle Wallis).

Knight said: “I know that the people that love Peaky love that story, and it felt to me that a love story, a romance like that and the romance that comes with what happens, I felt all of that would translate into music, first of all, but also into dance.

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“With Peaky, music has always been very important to the show. And also people move in a particular way, it’s quite stylised, the way people dress, the way they act, just made me think it’s a few short steps toward dance. And so that’s why I wanted to do this.”

Reflecting on audiences seeing a new facet to the Brummie don, Knight explained: “It’s a deeper version. I think what we get is inside insights into Tommy Shelby’s heart that you don’t get on the TV show. Because by his nature Tommy Shelby is a person who doesn’t show his emotions. He doesn’t let people in.

“But in this, we’re alone with him for quite a while and before the wedding we see how in love he is, and then after Grace’s death we join him on a journey towards redemption.

“He goes through his grief and then discovers a connection with her again. So, it’s a much more intimate portrayal of who Tommy Shelby is.”

So has Peaky Blinders’ leading man and Oscar winner Murphy watched The Redemption of Thomas Shelby? Knight admitted he wasn’t certain if the actor had got around to seeing the show as yet, but said the ballet “definitely got his blessing”, particularly because of Murphy’s love of music.

Teasing the music and artists featuring in The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, Knight said: “We’ve got a fantastic score, fantastic needle drops. We’ve got [the Peaky Blinders’ theme tune] Red Right Hand in there, so yeah, it’s right up [Murphy’s] street.”

The collaboration between Knight and dance troupe Rambert came about after the company was enlisted to choreograph a Swan Lake sequence in a previous season of Peaky Blinders.

Working with Rambert's artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer, Knight put devised the story while the dance expert put together the choreography.

Rambert's Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby will be heading to Sadler's Wells from Tuesday, August 5 to Saturday, August 16. Tickets are available now here