Peaky Blinders fans who have been lucky enough to catch Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man in cinemas now know how this story ends, including which returning characters play a major part in the movie and which ones are missing.
Ahead of its Netflix release, Paul Anderson has already ‘spoiled’ the fact that he didn’t reprise his role of Arthur Shelby for the movie. He’s not the only one that is missing, but we’ll keep spoilers out of here for now if you haven’t seen the movie yet. (If you don’t care about spoilers, check out our cast guide.)
When Digital Spy sat down with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, who also returned to write the movie, we asked whether there were any characters that he’d have wanted to fit in, but just couldn’t find a way. However, he explained that his writing process isn’t quite structured quite like that.
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Related: Why Duke Shelby was recast for the Peaky Blinders movie
“I don’t really think of it that way because I’m not really consciously planning the story; the story comes as I’m writing, it’s almost like discovering what it is. The story picks which characters are going to be there,” Knight responded.
So when you settle down to watch Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (if you haven’t already seen it in cinemas, that is), you have your answer why your favourite character wasn’t back. Blame the story, not Steven Knight.
It’s not like the movie is lacking for talent though. Among the returning characters, alongside Cillian Murphy of course, are Sophie Rundle’s Ada Thorne and Stephen Graham’s Hayden Stagg, while newcomers include Tim Roth, Rebecca Ferguson and Barry Keoghan in a recasted role as Duke Shelby.
“Every single first choice said yes, which is so unusual. The cast are amongst the best actors in the world, all in one place, and it’s such a pleasure to see them perform,” Knight enthused about the cast of the movie.
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Related: Peaky Blinders boss reveals the 3 “most important” episodes to watch before the movie
When addressing his absence from the movie last week, Paul Anderson did add that he thought Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man was “amazing” despite being “slightly apprehensive [as] we made a good show”.
It’s hopefully a sign that the movie does what Knight and Murphy wanted from it. “It’s meant to be a present or a gift to the fans, it’s a return on their investment,” Murphy told Digital Spy.
“They made the show what the show is, this little show on Sunday nights on BBC Two all those years ago and now is this global phenomenon. Not all of a sudden, it was very incremental and slow, but it became global. That is down to the fans, so it is really a gift for them.”
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is out now in select cinemas, and is released on Netflix on 20 March.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
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