There are generally two ways that most writers go about storytelling; you’re either a gardener, which means that you’ll make stuff up as you go along, or you’re an architect, which translates to you planning everything to the minutest detail from the get-go. For Peaky Blinders showrunner Steven Knight, the process has always involved the best of two worlds.
Indeed, the producer has said time and again that he always planned for the series to end with the start of World War II, and the remaining Blinders basking in the terror of aid-raid sirens going off in their hometown of Birmingham. That has now changed apparently, so the upcoming sixth season of the show won’t be the last of what you see from the Shelbys, even if it is indeed set to conclude the popular BBC series.
In a recent interview with Empire, Knight has revealed that the story will definitely get into the second World War on the big screen and may even continue to develop from there. In his own words:
“It was always Britain between the wars – how the lesson from one war was not learned and was repeated. It’s also the end of empire: we enter the Second World War and by the end of it, there is no empire, really. But I… have revised the scope of what it is. It will now go into and beyond the Second World War. Because I just think the energy that is out there in the world for this, I want to keep it going, and I want to see how this can progress beyond that.”
As for what this forthcoming season really implies for the franchise, Knight had an interesting, albeit a tad confusing, answer. “I think of this sixth series as the end of the beginning,” He said.
Knight further discusses how his writing process also takes advantage of fluidity, saying:
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen until I get to writing. The way I tend to work is not to plan, and I think if I did plan, I wouldn’t be able to do it. Just sit at the keyboard and if you know the characters well enough, let ‘em loose and see what they say to each other. Let the dialogue guide the plot.”
Then I guess we’ll have to wait and see where this dialogue has directed the plot of Peaky Blinders‘ final season when it premieres sometime in early 2022.