After a one-off stint as Duke Shelby in the Peaky Blinders movie, Barry Keoghan won’t return (Picture: Netflix)
Peaky Blinders fans have jumped to the defence of the new star cast as Tommy Shelby’s son, Duke, as Barry Keoghan bows out.
The new Peaky Blinders sequel series set in 1950s Birmingham will feature the character Erasmus ‘Duke’ Shelby – Tommy’s illegitimate first child – who first appeared in the original BBC series, played by Conrad Khan.
When the show returned as a feature-length Netflix movie, The Immortal Man, earlier this year, Irish actor Barry Keoghan stepped into his shoes opposite Cillian Murphy.
Now, as filming gets underway for the upcoming Steven Knight show, the all-important role has been cast anew.
Set to be a leading role in the new iteration, it has been confirmed that actor Jamie Bell, 40 – known for Billy Elliot and All of Us Strangers – will take over the mantle as an ‘older, wiser, more ambitious and more dangerous’ Duke.
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The star-studded cast will also feature Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton, Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay and Day of the Jackal’s Lashana Lynch, as well as Lucy Karczewski’s TV debut.
Jamie Bell will be the third actor to portray Duke, this time in the sequel series (Picture: Ben Blackall/BBC/PA Wire)
He’s previously played roles in Billy Elliot and All of Us Strangers (Picture: Action Press/Shutterstock)
Set in the aftermath of World War Two in Birmingham – 10 years after the events of Immortal Man – the new plot hinges on rebuilding the city – ‘a brutal contest of mythical dimensions’. At the heart of the ‘blood-soaked city’? Duke Shelby.
In an official statement about the recast, Steven said: ‘I am thrilled that we are announcing a new era of Peaky Blinders, moving the story to post-war Birmingham in the early 50s.
‘We are incredibly fortunate to have Jamie Bell taking the role of Tommy Shelby’s oldest son, Duke, and to have Charlie Heaton also leading the cast.
What does Metro think of The Immortal Man?
Metro’s film critic Tori Brazier shares her four-star review…
Cillian Murphy’s TV icon Tommy Shelby commands the big screen just as well in this explosive movie sequel that smoothly melds history with the drama series’ own lore. It may not be appointment viewing for everyone, but it’s a solid film in its own right.
Conrad Khan was the first actor to play Duke in the original series (Picture: BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions/Anthony Byrne)
Industry and Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton has also come on board (Picture: BBC/Bad Wolf Productions/HBO/Simon Ridgway)
‘There are more exciting cast announcements to come, and Peaky is on the road again.’
Given this is the third person to play Duke, there has been some backlash to the choice to change up the actor yet again.
‘Oh hell naw,’ Generic Relative Sea wrote on Reddit.
‘That’s the issue with overusing celebrity actors you know can’t stay on long. How jarring it must be to see one character recast three times with none of the actors portraying them even looking similar lol,’ famrocker1983 criticised.
Are you happy with Jamie Bell taking over the role?
Yes, he’s a great actorCheck
No, I think it should still be BarryCheck
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‘Jamie Bell is a great actor, but agreed, nothing breaks immersion like actor changes for characters. Barry should’ve been Duke if it had to go on,’ Polsja shared.
Still, some are ready to see how it goes before handing down judgment.
‘I actually think Jamie Bell is a fantastic actor. I’ll give it a chance,’ due_secret_3091.
‘Agreed I loved him in [the movie] Turn,’ drift3622 added.
Filming is underway for the new sequel series, where Cillian Murphy will return as an executive producer (Picture: BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd./Robert Viglasky)
Bougeesurfer went as far as to say: ‘I wasn’t going to give this a chance. But Jaime Bell looks great, and he has that “tough” look like Tommy did.’
‘He’s a good choice, I’ll watch it,’ soullesscandle agreed.
Despite the film leaving fans with mixed feelings, there’s still plenty of appetite for new Peaky Blinders stories (even if the next version will only feature Cillian as an executive producer), and the movie itself peaked at number one with 25,300,000 views in the first week.
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Talking about making the move to a storyline without ar Tommy with Metro, showrunner Steven said: ‘‘When you get into the Peaky spirit, lots of stuff comes.
‘But I think in the end, when the cast started coming together, and when we knew we’d got Tom – every series since series one the first question was, can we get Tom back? And he was always busy – that’s when you start to think more we can be quite expansive.’
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