Irish stars go gangster for BBC show

Cork heartthrob Cillian Murphy and Love/Hate star Tom Vaughan-Lawlor are set to star in the highly anticipated BBC gangster series Peaky Blinders.

Due to start airing on BBC2 from Sept 12, the series will also star Sam Neill and Skyfall star Helen McCrory.

The six-part series is set in 1919 post-war Birmingham and features returning war veterans, political revolutionaries, and criminal gangs, all battling for a stake in an industrial Birmingham beset with economic problems.