TV review: Peaky Blinders has integrity from the bottom to the top

— I love all of it, right down to the birdsong tribute to Helen McCrory as the credits rolled

2G0P3FT London.UK. Helen McCrory in ©BBC Studios/Caryn Mandabach Productions/Tiger Aspect Productions/Screen Yorkshire TV Series, Peaky Blinders (TV) (2013)

Peaky Blinders (BBC One, Sundays, 9pm) has integrity — that’s why we keep coming back for mo r e. It doesn’t matter that it’s one long tribute western or that Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby walks as if he goes everywhere on a horse or that Tom Hardy’s Alfie Solomon seems like a comedy character from a different show or that Charlene McKenna’s IRA woman wears a foolish beret — put it all together in one show and Peaky Blinders just works. It’s a world of its own, a sorely missed world since season five ended in 2019.

The last time we saw Tommy Shelby, it looked like he might have shot himself. He would have too if his brother Arthur hadn’t emptied the bullets out of his gun as a precaution. A deft touch to start the final season, reminding us that for all the booze and cocaine and violence and heavy metal, the two brothers still look out for each other.