Peaky Blinders season 6: release date, cast, story and everything we know

Peaky Blinders season 6 is set to return to screens with a bang after a cliff-hanger ending to season 5 left audiences scrambling for answers – but we've got a little while to wait until then.

The tumultuous finale to the latest entry put something of a spanner in the works of the self-contained nature of the popular series, which has seen the season-to-season adventures of Tommy Shelby and co. exist almost independently of one another since debuting back in 2013.

Now, though, following Tommy's bout of violent psychosis and Oswald Mosely's narrow escape, fans are eager to see the return of a show which was only expected to last five seasons.

As with most of our favorite series, the early 2021 release date for Peaky Blinders season 6 was pushed back after a slew of Covid-related delays, but we've got a pretty good idea of when the Birmingham-based Shelby gang will be back to wreak more havoc.

What's more, with a supposedly "f**king strong" script in the works, we're not short of anticipation for learning – and predicting – how the series will tie up its many loose ends.

Below, we round up everything we know so far about Peaky Blinders season 6 – from its expected release date to new cast members. Naturally, proceed with caution if you want to avoid spoilers for seasons 1 to 5.

If you haven't caught up with the latest adventures of the Shelby gang, though, you've got plenty of time to do so on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Netflix internationally.

Peaky Blinders season 6 release date

As with most shows whose new series were expected to arrive between 2020 and 2021, the global pandemic hindered filming of Peaky Blinders season 6, with director Anthony Byrne telling Digital Spy that the original plan was to have filming begin in March 2020 and end in July after a 78-day shoot.

An announcement on Peaky Blinders Season 6. pic.twitter.com/g1vEnpi8bUMarch 16, 2020

Naturally, that didn't happen, but relaxed restrictions on television and film production at the beginning of 2021 meant filming did eventually begin in January.

“Peaky is back and with a bang,” Byrne said earlier in the year. “After the enforced production delay due to the COVID pandemic, we find the family in extreme jeopardy and the stakes have never been higher. We believe this will be the best series of all and are sure that our amazing fans will love it."

Thankfully, it would seem the plan to shoot the entirety of Peaky Blinders season 6 in less than three months endured – recent set images confirm filming has wrapped – though that doesn't mean we can expect its imminent arrival.

That's because new seasons of the show require "another six months of editing," according to its director, so we're not certain season 6 will land any time before the end of the year – with early 2022 looking a more likely date.

That's it, that's the final wrap for #PeakyBlinders . We can't wait to see this on our screens and from what we witnessed today...S6 will be EPIC 📽🎬🤯💥🧨🥃🚬 #PeakyBlinders6 pic.twitter.com/salWkEhXCZMay 27, 2021

Peaky Blinders season 6 plot and cast

So, what do we know of Peaky Blinders in terms of its story?

Well, expect to see some familiar faces tying up the loose ends left by Tommy's failed assassination of Sir Oswald Mosely. Speaking of the slimy Blackshirts founder, we know from a BBC Sounds podcast that Sam Claflin will be returning for the role, and that the first episode of season 6 is called 'Black Day'. The official Peaky Blinders account also tweeted his involvement back in February 2021.

Sam Claflin returns as Oswald Mosley in #PeakyBlinders series 6📷 Matt Squire pic.twitter.com/8gGnrYsDjNFebruary 25, 2021

We know Cillian Murphy is returning as Tommy, too, along with the other usual Shelby suspects. Granted, season 5 ended with the show's main character looking rather distressed in a field with a gun to his head, but our money's on him living to fight another day – especially since we've spotted Murphy in several recent set images.

Those psychological troubles also triggered the ethereal apparitions of his dead wife, Grace Shelby, so we'll likely see Annabelle Wallis again, too. Less clear is whether Tom Hardy will reappear as Alfie Solomons, following his miraculous season 5 return after being shot in the head the season before that.

We do know Paul Anderson will be returning as Arthur Shelby, though, as well as Natasha O'Keeffe as Lizzie Stark, after the show confirmed as much on Twitter. We also know Charlie Murphy, who played unionist leader Jessie Eden, won’t be re-appearing in season 6. “Yeah. I’m done now,” she told Digital Spy in March. “But it was a lot of fun."

But what of Michael's mysterious partner, Gina, played by The Queen's Gambit's Anya Taylor-Joy? Were the scheming couple behind the assassination's failure? Michael's bid to take charge of Shelby Company Ltd certainly raises our suspicions.

Regardless, we do know we'll be meeting more of Gina's family in season 6 – director Anthony Byrne told GQ in August 2019 that, "Gina, and whoever her family are, will make themselves known."

It's looking like the murky machinations of the interwar elite will become clearer in the next season, then, but when it comes to Gina, specifically, "there's a lot to be revealed about her next series. She's a player, she's a manipulator. She's part of a wider plan," Byrne said.

He also confirmed, on the BBC’s Obsessed With… Peaky Blinders podcast, that Stephen Graham will make an appearance in season 6 – though not as Al Capone, who he played in the comparable Boardwalk Empire series. The Chicago mob boss was referenced at the end of Peaky Blinders' fifth season, so it makes sense that fans had drawn the conclusion.

Thanks for having me 🙏 https://t.co/lOOLYKu6kYApril 29, 2021

In a particularly exciting rumor, Julia Roberts has also been tipped to join the show's cast – though it's unclear who she'd play. “I don’t know where that got out," Byrne told the BBC (via Esquire), "but, yeah, fingers crossed on that.”

Based on the activity of the show's official Twitter account, other actors confirmed to be entering the fray for season 6 include Rebecca Keatley – who is set for a major change of scenery from her role as a CBeebies presenter – Australian actor James Frecheville and Brits Amber Anderson and Conrad Khan.

The latter has earned major plaudits of late, including a nomination for BAFTA's Rising Star Award, and so proves another exciting addition to an already-stellar cast.

When it comes to Billy (Emmett J. Scanlan), who may or may not have been the person who betrayed Tommy and the gang at the end of season 5, Scanlan told Digital Spy that he hopes, if Billy was the rat, that he stands up to the Blinders in future. He also mentioned that the season 6 scripts are "so f**king strong. It won't disappoint, I promise you. Steven [Knight] is a master."

We know we'll be finding out who the rat is, at least. In fact, the show's director, Anthony Byrne, told Digital Spy that those who paid “close attention” should already be able to see who backstabbed Tommy. “You certainly find out," he added "but we cut stuff around that end section to make it more oblique." Exciting stuff.

Peaky Blinders — (Image credit: Tiger Aspect Productions / BBC)

After the sad passing of actress Helen McCrory, we also don't expect Aunt Polly to re-appear in season 6. During a BFI Q&A prior to her death, showrunner Steven Knight was asked if Aunt Polly would survive until the very end of the show, to which he simply replied: "Yes."

McCrory had also previously expressed her desire to return for the final series, eager to "see it through to the end". It's unclear how the show will address this loss, though tributes were paid on social media.

As for its setting, we know World War II will start to loom over the story in Peaky Blinders season 6. "Because of the nature of the decade, the 1930s, we know what happened at the end – that war began. There are rumblings and rumors of war and that is overshadowing the whole thing. It makes the stakes higher," Knight told the Press Association in 2020.

That timeframe would fit with the show's signature time jumps from season to season, with its debut outing set back in 1919 amid the lawless neighborhoods of post-war Birmingham.

How far it's come, eh?

What comes after Peaky Blinders season 6?

Five seasons in, and Peaky Blinders remains essential viewing. It's a rare thing for a UK-made show to develop the credibility of a bigger-budget US drama, and it's no wonder more and more big names are showing up in every season.

In the UK, viewing figures for new episodes have tripled since the show began – so don't be surprised if Peaky Blinders season 6 isn't the last we'll see of the Shelbys.

We do know this upcoming season will be the finale for the show in its original form, but Knight has confirmed that "while the TV series will be coming to an end, the story will continue in another form.”

Could that mean a feature-length Peaky Blinders adventure in the near future? We hope so.