Peaky Blinders (2013)
London's for the taking.
A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.
| Type | TV series |
|---|---|
| First aired | 12 September 2013 |
| Status | Ended, last episode 3 April 2022 |
| Genre | Drama, Crime |
| Created by | Steven Knight |
| Starring | Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson and Sophie Rundle |
| Seasons | 6 seasons, 36 episodes |
| Episode length | about 57 min |
| Time to watch it all | about 34 hours |
| Rated | TV-MA |
| Scores | TMDB users 8.5/10 |
Where to watch Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders is streaming on Netflix ($17.99 a month) in the US. At ten hours a week, all of the series takes about 1 month of Netflix, or $17.99 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 30 September 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
What kind of watch this is
Peaky Blinders is a crime drama about a gang that sews razor blades into their caps. It runs 34 hours across 6 seasons. That is a significant commitment. You are buying into the Shelby family's rise in 1919 Birmingham. It is for viewers who want to see a small-time operation try to become respectable. The premise is simple. The execution is not.
What the critics said
Peaky Blinders found its audience in the review section. Metacritic assigns it a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, a figure that signals strong approval without breaking a sweat. David Renshaw of The Guardian called it a "riveting, fast-paced tale of post-first world war Birmingham gangsters". Sarah Crompton of The Telegraph gave it four out of five, noting it takes expectations and confounds them. The praise centers on the stylish cinematography and Cillian Murphy’s charisma. Historians remain divided on the accuracy of mixing decades. It is a period piece that refuses to be boring.
How it did with audiences
Peaky Blinders has no box office numbers to lean on. It is a television series, after all, so the money talk is muted. Instead, look at the user score. On TMDB, it sits at 8.5 out of 10. That is a high number for a show about men who punch each other in alleyways.
What came next for the cast
Cillian Murphy left Batman and Inception behind. He traded them for Dunkirk, A Quiet Place Part II, and Oppenheimer. The credits suggest a shift toward prestige, though the timeline does not prove causation.
Paul Anderson moved from Sherlock Holmes and A Lonely Place to Die into a cluster of 2015 releases: The Revenant, In the Heart of the Sea, and Legend. A busy year, certainly.
Sophie Rundle had one film, Great Expectations, before the series. Afterward came Bodyguard, The Midnight Sky, and Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. One role can change a trajectory, or perhaps it just opens a door.
Helen McCrory stepped out of the wizarding world. Her post-series work includes Penny Dreadful, The Woman in Black 2, and Loving Vincent.
Where it left its mark
The ONS has measured its cultural footprint. They found that the name Arthur jumped into the top 10 for boys in 2018, a first since the 1920s. Ada followed, breaking into the girls' top 100 for the first time in a century. The agency attributes this spike to the characters Arthur Shelby Jr. and Ada Thorne. The series has since been tagged as a cult classic. The ripple effect stretches to Ukraine, where a National Guard unit named after the show received gifts from the creators. It also reached the Taliban, who summoned four men for dressing in its costumes.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Peaky Blinders.
Sources
- Peaky Blinders on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q14944179 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Peaky Blinders (TV series)” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
Watch it without paying for the whole year
Binge Boss tracks the series you are on and tells you which services you need this month, and which you can cancel.
Add Peaky Blinders to your list