Peaky Blinders: Mr Jones (Series 5, Episode 6 Review)

“THE GREEN SHOOTS OF ANOTHER WAR”

Tommy has been on his own personal mission to overthrow facism throughout series five but in a grand finale that chucks the rulebook onto the fire, conventions are also vanquished. He does not emerge victorious, more enemies surround him than ever before and, worse still for most viewers, there is no conclusion to the story by the time the credits roll. It had previously been stated by Steven Knight that series six will continue the story but most people won’t know this information and will undoubtedly feel perplexed, cheated even. The fact that this was different is a positive thing. The impending doom for next time is stronger, the threat more real. We knew Tommy would defeat Lucas Changretta last time out, now he’s defeating himself. It’s a bold move and one that pays off in sixty five minutes of television that should go down in razor gang based TV folklore. Hardly a crowded field admittedly.

‘Mr Jones’ is more in keeping with where the first two episodes seemed to be heading. It is by no means perfect but the end just about justifies the means. While the third, fourth and fifth episodes were rivetting they lacked a certain edge. Virtually every minute here though is engrossing as the tension slowly builds. From Tommy’s first face to face meeting with Winston Churchill (who looks suspiciously like Neil Maskell with Play-Doh as make up) to a tense four stage meeting in the Garrison which was literally extraordinary.

Michael and Gina issue their plans to take over the company only to be on the recieving end of Tommy’s glacial stare. These are the moments Peaky Blinders shines most. The tension is palpable and made worse by a rogue Barney making a rude interuption. Then the plan is revealed to a disbelieving audience. The tiredness and strain etched on Tommy’s face is clear to see. All the awards should go to Cillian Murphy who has inhabited Tommy for ten post war years and gets better with age. The serrated edges of his character have grown even sharper than his cheekbones. This is akin to watching an immersive play. You’re right there in the room with him. Just be glad you’re not or he’ll shoot you in the face like he did with poor Mickey the barman. A grass for sure but certainly not the dreaded black cat.

What follows is a moment fans have been waiting two years. When Tommy mumbles “I have to go to Margate” we all knew instantly didn’t we? Sure enough, a few seconds later the dulcet tones of Alfie Solomons call out and in mere minutes he makes his presence felt. “How soon did you know that I was not dead?” he asks. “You wrote me a letter, Alfie” Tommy sighs. He’s daan saaf to ask a favour of his old friend / nemesis which is odd because Alfie has continuously stabbed Tommy in the front which is why he got shot in the bleedin’ face. Was it precient that their shoot-out was off kilter? He cant be back from the dead it wasnt confirmed he had departed. Was his return just for the fans or integral to the plot? The truth is we won’t know until 2021.

As for Mosley, he’s been a bit quiet up until now but that peace is shattered at his rally by a double dose of Idles. In a perverse television mash up, Love Island gets mentioned at a fascist convention but things are set to get more mad as everything goes so spectacularly tits up it’s best described with Ron Burgundy’s “well, that escalated quickly” meme. As Alfie’s boys start rioting, Barney is shot dead, Aberama is knived 284 times and Arhur is nearly killed. Again. The scope and ambition is remarkable. The direction, music and performances unite to create visual and aural poetry.

Alas, the disappointments show through right at the end as unresolved arcs slap us in the face. Most should be continued in the next run but for a second time the war with the Billy Boys is reduced to nothing. They offer no threat here and when things kick off Jimmy McCavern just watches on. The biggest bugbear throughout the run has been the apparitions of Grace showing up left right and centre, willing him to suicide. We get it, we don’t need reminding. Don’t overkill the dead. We’re left with Alfie’s dream coming true. Tommy in a field with a horse nearby and a gun to his head, Grace being the metaphorical trigger. Was it real? A dream? A drug induced fantasy? Guess what? We won’t find out until 2021.

Peaky Blinders mark five has challenged itself to evolve and has done so with great success for the most part. If the plan is to take the Shelbys up to the second world war then it seems the seven series timeline is well behind schedule as we’ve only just been to 1929. Fuel your own film rumours if you wish. Whatever happens, now is the time to keep faith in Steven Knight and Tommy Shelby.

A LITTLE PEAK:

– Polly has lost Aberama on the eve of their wedding. Her vengeance on Tommy will be lethal.

– “I got shot in the face by some c**t” Alfie always has a way with words.

– Billy Grade’s sketchiness has a different perspective now.

– On that note: Finn! You had one job!

– Did Alfie betray Tommy again? Is he responsible for the killings at the rally? Common sense would say no as you’d think he’d want Mosley dead too.

– Arthur’s time always feels up. Will he get out alive and leave the gang?

– A big shout out for the editing of music in tonight’s show including when the maid turns the radio on and Idles kick in and the juxtaposition of ‘Land Of Hope And Glory” over the montage of everyone with opposing views. How very 2019.

Peaky Blinders: Black Tuesday (Series 5, Episode 1 Review)

“EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION”

Cillian Murphy rides once more into the breach (on his one horse open slay). His return is grander than a canyon and it’s bloody spectacular. Tommy is a man full of his own importance and the cinematic opening sees him once more as the star of his own Hollywood tragedy. Television shouldn’t look this good, television shouldn’t feel this good, television shouldn’t sound this good and yet here we are in 1929 setting higher and higher bars for programme makers in 2019.

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While Murphy rocks every scene he’s in with a vibrant coldness, the malevolent world of Peaky Blinders is brought to life by every character, every set detail, every chord struck and every line said in the Brummy timbre. Quality runs through every pore of its sweating but very furrowed brow. The show knows how bloody good it is and even if the first ten minutes play out like a blockbuster film, it’s the subtlety in everything that follows which transcends it beyond just theatre – this is art.

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The central theme of series five looks set to be Tommy’s inner demons but this isn’t an overnight thing. This has been going for six years. Strands from previous series are always picked up on or referenced to. Nothing feels throwaway and even if Steven Knight did scrunch an idea up and throw it in the bin he must later save it from the recycling to take us by surprise.

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Maybe Michael will wish Knight had trashed the bit where he inadvertently loses a lot of money in the stock market crash because Tommy is furious with him. Actually, Tommy is furious with everyone. Lizzie, their son, and later on a journalist. “What do I have to do to make people fucking listen to me?!” he bellows. His family might zone out but the irony of Tommy being welcomed into the Garrison with open arms by an adoring public is strong. His reputation has changed with his role as an MP but with the inner turmoil rapidly escalating he should be feared more now than ever.

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With Tommy’s struggles as the centrepiece Peaky Blinders has evolved. It may not be the Arctic Monkeys blasting riot fuelled pubescent early days anymore but in middle age it is aging well. The storytelling is even better, the direction is more on point and the impending sense of doom is even more sinister. Anna Calvi’s score is perfectly in sync with Tommy’s despair. It’s a glorious marriage made in hell.

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Believe it or not there are softer moments too and Arthur’s attempts at holding a meeting are uncomfortably funny. Even when Finn got shot we were allowed to raise a smile. Sorry Finn While there has been many funny lines in the past it feels like a concerted effort has been made to make the lighter moments lighter. That may have something to do with the transition to BBC1. It’s not even a criticism because the comedy works and in every other way there’s no sense of compromise. Peaky Blinders is still unrelentingly dark and violent. Which is nice.

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It’s a wonder of script writing how Knight can focus on Tommy’s downfall and unite his venture into politics so harmoniously, yet alone everything else that’s going on. In parliament he isn’t much more corrupt than the fellow politicians and it’s delicious to see him let loose in this world of careerist vagabonds. Two standout scenes highlight this perfectly. The first when he knocks red wine onto the table and the second when he’s at loggerheads with a journalist by the name of Michael Levitt. Two people are simply talking in a darkened room but the tension is unbearable and broken up only slightly by Tommy’s insistence that he writes it all down. The closing scene is confirmation that with power comes great irresponsibility. Levitt Is shot down im a swarm of bullets. It’s graphic and shocking and would no doubt make Quentin Tarantino a little jealous.

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So our antagonist is making enemies out of his own family, has enemies in his own head and is making new enemies with each new scene. With friends like Tommy and all that..

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A LITTLE PEAK

– Ada is pregnant. In an incident packed episode this news felt small fry.

– The surprise appearance of Grace felt eerily out of place at first but in full context it does make sense.

– We see a little glimpse of Oswald Mosley and as hindsight has taught us, anyone with a ‘tashe like that shouldn’t be trusted.

– It’s good to see Aberama Gold still working for the gang. For the time being anyway.

– Lizzie has quite clearly had enough of Tommy’s shit. In fact all the women have. An uprising is in the offing.

– Michael is going to have quite the welcome back. Let’s just say the order on bunting has been cancelled.

Peaky Blinders Series 5 interview With Executive Producer Caryn Mandabach

This interview was conducted for thecustardtv.com and an abridged version can be found there.

Caryn has taken the long route via horse and cart to end up in the dark streets of Small Heath. Back in her birthplace of America she was executive producer for such hits as The Cosby Show, Roesanne and Third Rock From The Sun. Now settled in England, we have been called to this extraordinary meeting by an incoming message from the big giant head. Probably.

Was the process more daunting this year knowing the show was moving to BBC One?

“It’s a joy to be on the BBC generally. I don’t know if we’ll be more or less received, all I know is it’s a giant hit and a giant hit in my American view means that a lot of different people tend to watch it. I feel Peaky is a hit because everyone likes it, old or young, rich or poor, male or female.

Peaky has fans in Iceland, Uruguay, Mexico, Russia. There’s fans everywhere largely because of Netflix but it’s still an incredible thing to think about how wide and deep. Sometimes you can have a deep hit and I believe Peaky is both wide and deep. Also, I just think it’s really good!”

How difficult is it to make the show look so cinematic and beautiful on a relatively low budget?

“Ooh! I’m just desperate to answer that question.. because we’re extremely good at it! It’s a crafted show, this is not a corporate effort. It is so beloved and every craftsperson, which includes anybody who has anything to do with it, loves it because they know the intention is to support Steve’s vision as realised by the director. There’s such respect for the craft. Every single decision is related to extremely talented, top of their game people. A lot of the time we get favours from people who want to be on the show. The musicians don’t have to give us their stuff.”

Caryn is gleeful in her passion and love for the show. Her excitement grows with each question. This isn’t just a job for her, this means something. If her aura was visible it’d be a warm Ready Brek glow of pride and rightly so.

Series five sees Anthony Byrne take over as director. What does that bring to proceedings?

“Every season has a slightly different genre. The first one was definitely a Western. Two men meet at the bar, one guy rides in on a black horse and there’s a woman between them. The third season was psychological, almost tragedy because he lost his wife and season four was siege”

Caryn makes strangely convincing machine gun noises but it doesn’t interupt her flow.

“You’ve got a guy with a toothpick so there’s gangster in there too. Directors are chosen for their ability to approach genre given those characters. Anthony Byrne is TOP. OF. GAME”

Anna Calvi does the soundtrack this time, how did that come about?

“The director, he really took that forward. She’s done the score – it’s unbelievable! I met her for the first time the other day and I was really in awe. I knew she was the right girl”

Music has always been such an integral part of the show and the combination of the historical setting with contemporary songs is part of what makes the unique atmosphere.

“Time shouldn’t be that important. Certain things are eternal. If you’re hearts broken it doesn’t matter who’s singing. Like, ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ at the end of last season.. the guy is walking down, he’s just become an MP, he’s got a broad over here and a broad over there. He’s got a baby and just put a gun in his pocket after joining the Labour government. It doesn’t matter that Bob Dylan did it in the sixties, we have to choose the music that fits the emotion. It’s so chic I can barely stand up!

Also, what PJ Harvey did in series two.. to finally hear a female voice and it wasn’t Nick Cave who is our original curator of Tommy’s subconscious. You don’t want to go too far from Nick Cave and one degree of separation is PJ Harvey! Then you’re not too far from Thom Yorke. They’re cerebral and also talk about what’s going on inside a man’s head, even Anna or PJ. The score has to underscore what people are feeling and in particular, Tommy”

There are original songs as well?

“Not from Tommy’s perspective. We are commenting on how he feels because sometimes Tommy doesn’t know what he’s feeling”

Having worked in both, what differences have you noticed between British and American television?

“In England you’re not used to doing multiple series. In America we don’t say “series four was better than series two” we just think it has to keep getting better. We anticipate and prepare for the fact that things are going to continue and that the story will continue to be as interesting.

It’s not like a soap opera. Here’s a guy walking around with a subtext. He’s got family, he’s got a love life and he’s got a text around him that’s ever changing. This season has a different text to Lucas Changretta coming to get him”

Steven has started writing series six with the hope of a seventh to follow, what do you think the chances are of a film or spin off?

“As I was saying, it’s a crafted experience. You can’t put a gun to Steven’s head and say “For money you must deliver!” It doesn’t make any sense. It has to come from an organic place. I think we have to talk more about craft and less about corporate needs.

In principle the ‘Peakyverse’ is my favourite place to be. When I get a new script, honestly, I’m like a kid! He’s finished thirty scripts now. That’s thirty hours. That’s fifteen movies in a span of eight years. That’s a giant achievement. That’s crazy! Who has that body of work?

Cillian once said he thought he was going to die when reading a script for the end of series two and started crying. We still have that same innocent response as you would if you were twelve and reading Dickens for the first time”

What are the biggest production nightmares in the making of Peaky Blinders?

“If we feel there’s going to be a real production problem we’ll push back or if we feel he (Steven) has already covered it but we don’t note him. The biggest problem..?

She pauses and thinks how to answer diplomatically then clearly decides not to and pulls a sulky face.

“We don’t have enough money!” That’s about it really. The whole thing is a joy”

What benefits would a bigger budget give you?

“Two areas, the first is schedule. We have to shoot out of order so Cillian can do an episode one scene in the morning and the end of episode six in the afternoon. A feat that’s insane. That’s not talked about enough – Cillian’s astonishing performance.

Secondly, we can’t afford some artists. When we started out we were told we would have to cover Nick Cave for the American version. I said “there’ll be no covering Nick Cave or Jack White!” We had to write that cheque. I had to go into my own purse and write a cheque. So we could do a better job of marketing ourselves”

Despite budget limitations you’ve had some incredible talent take part.

“All our antagonists have said “Please don’t kill me!” Sam Neill really didn’t want to leave and neither did Adrien Brody.

They (the guest stars) are all very very good. You can see the actors are having a good time and are at the top of their game. Helen (McCrory), who would want to be in a scene with her? She’ll kill you! It’s terrifying how they’re all so wildly talented”

Caryn has a wistful look in her eye at the mere mention of that name.

“When I first met Helen she goes”who are you?” I said “I’m Caryn” and she was “let’s be friends and I was “ok!” She’s so present and very giving to the other actors. They all are”

Put it this way, if series five has even half the energy that Caryn possesses then we are in for a real treat. The show couldn’t be in better hands.

Peaky Blinders Series 5 Interview: Steven Knight

This interview was carried out on behalf of thecustardtv.com and an abridged version can be found there.

Steven Knight has become one of television’s most successful writers since Peaky Blinders launched back in 2013. Not just content with creating one of The BBC’s most critically acclaimed hits he’s also close to finishing scripts of the second series of Taboo and has completed ‘A Christmas Carol’, starring Guy Peace which is coming to your screens this winter. If he is feeling the pressure it’s not showing as he takes his seat with a relaxed smile, clearly relishing what series five has in store.

What are the themes of the new series?

“It’s a fork in the road for a lot of characters, especially Tommy and if you put it simplistically, between good and bad. Is he going to do the right thing? It’s about members of the family being confronted with things that are so huge and potentially damaging that they have to decide who’s side they’re on”

What is it that will make Tommy happy?

“I think that he’s drawn to acquire power but doesn’t know why. Tommy doesn’t know what he wants since the war. If anything, I’d say what he wants is to go back to being the person he was before the war. He worked with horses, he was attached to nature, he had compassion and feelings but the war blasted everything out of him. When he came back he was just switched off so what I’m trying to do over the series is flick his switch back on and make him human again even though it’s painful to start feeling”

Do you have a writing process? Is the plan still to take the Shelby family up to the second world war?

“I don’t really plan things to that extent but what I do have is a destination and when you have a destination you can then get there however you want because at least you know where you’re going. For any journey the most important thing is where you’re heading so it’s always been a particular scene at a particular moment in history that’s going to happen, it’s just how you get there. I’ve found that sitting down and planning an episode doesn’t work for me”.

Do you know how Peaky Blinders ultimately ends?

There’s a knowing laugh followed by a firm “Yes…” The short silence that followed conjured up so many possibilities.

So you knew how series five ended when you started it?

“Only that, so everything else is up for grabs. You can do anything else, keep Tommy alive.. probably and head for that destination. It sounds weird but I know the characters really well so I tend to put them in a room and let them talk about anything. The kiss of death is saying ‘in this scene she must reveal this to him’ whereas if you just let them talk it happens naturally.

For the end of series three the idea was to split everybody and series four forced them back again. What I wanted at the end of the fourth was to experiment with the idea that you get to the end of the series and there’s still ten minutes left, so what are you going to do? So Tommy, goes on holiday and can’t stand it. So what am I going to do now? So I come up with this thing that completely surprises everybody”

Is Tommy’s PTSD explored further, as hinted at in that finale?

“Very deeply. A lot of it is about where he’s at and the business of coming alive again. He hasn’t reached the bottom yet. What I didn’t want to do is give him post first world war stress related mental illness in series one and in series two say ‘oh, that’s over now’. I want to keep it going because these people lived with it all their lives”

On Tommy’s venture into politics, there are certainty comparisons that can be made between the late twenties and the current climate.

“It’s extraordinarily appropriate. It’s fortunate for me and unfortunate for the world but those years had a great deal in common with what’s happening now. There’s the rise in nationalism, populism, facism and racism were suddenly becoming currency, becoming respectable. Some of the things that were said at the time could have have been out of the newspapers today – word for word. It’s quite chilling because we all know how it ended up, it ended in war”

Were you conscious of drawing those parallels in your writing?

“I didn’t even have to. I didn’t have to force it because you just read what happened and what people said and quote that. I think people will think I made it up. It’s like with Churchill, you take things that are real, dance around them and join the dots. It’s great for driving the plot when you know that history is marching alongside you”

How does Tommy manipulate the establishment from inside?

“He’s in his element in the house of commons because he’s found an environment where people with power are not particularly scrupulous. There’s lots of fighting, lots of gangs. His ability to speak, control and strategic are really useful. It’s not beyond reality”

What can we expect from Oswald Mosley? How do he and Tommy spar against eachother?

“Tommy confronts many things. Family things, gang things and emotional things but the biggest thing he can confront is this new sensibility. Sam (Claflin) is absolutely hypnotic in it”

The show has had its share of brilliant guest stars over the years.

“We get a lot of approaches from astonishly A-list actors who love the show but we’ve always tried not to make it ‘spot the celebrity’ because it’d spoil the atmosphere”

Is there life in these characters beyond 1939? A spin off maybe?

“They wouldn’t fight in the war but they would live through it. I’m starting to think there’s something to be had there. I don’t know yet, it’s just a thought”

A film has long been rumoured. Is there any substance to that?

“I’d never rule anything out. The inspiration came from my parent’s stories that I heard when I was a kid so the world sort of came out of that. It’s the details that are really amazing. The authority of truth is always important”

With that, it’s time for Steven to leave and head to a spa weekend retreat or whatever the hell it is he does to keep himself so calm and serene. There may be be gruesome murders and graphic violence in his mind but he’s floating out of here on a different plain to the rest of us. We, and not just for the obvious reason, really don’t want the second world war to start.