Television Review | What is true and what is fiction in the hit TV series Peaky Blinders? A fascinating British documentary sheds light on the issue

Culture|Television review

In the year In 1890, the term peaky blinder was used for the first time in a British newspaper. The name, which means organized gangs, has since become well known by Steven Knight from the handsome epochal drama created by Peaky Blinders (2013–2022).

A two-part BBC documentary Peaky Blinders – the full story (2022) graphically describes the rise and fall of Britain’s first modern gang movement and sheds light on its backgrounds. At the same time, the documentary tells about the relationship between the epic series and reality.

As always, the relationship between fact and fiction is not very straightforward.

In June Landed in its sixth and final season on Netflix Peaky Blinders is inspired by the stories screenwriter Knight heard from his father, the members of the criminal gang were Knight’s father’s uncles. In the documentary, Steven Knight talks about the series’ inspirations.

While the fictional series starts only after the First World War, the real history of the gangs goes back to the 1870s. The gangs spawned from the poor Irish population in the back alleys of England’s industrial towns. The documentary creates an interesting look at the socio-cultural atmosphere and racism of the era.

Background work has been particularly demanding. The documentary is based on a historian Carl Chinn to write in a book Peaky Blinders, the Real Story of Birmingham’s Most Notorious Gangs (2014). Chinn also has a personal connection to the subject: his great-grandfather was a peaky blinder.

Chinn concretely leads the viewer in the footsteps of the first youth cult to the side streets of Birmingham. It is particularly interesting to get to see the 19th century identification picture book of the Birmingham police of real-life peaky blinders.

Document shatters several myths created by the fictional series. One of them is that the name of peaky blinders came from the razor blades hidden in the brim of the caps of gang members.

Actually, the name comes from the peak of the cap (peak) pulled diagonally over the eyes of gang members, Blinder refers to a slang name that means stylish. The documentary says that the gang members were particularly careful about their appearance and clothing.

Street gangs started an urban movement that eventually brought changes to the lives of the working class. The second part reveals how British gangsterism flared up into wars at the racetracks in 1921.

History: Peaky Blinders – the whole story, Theme at 21:00 and Yle Areena. (K12) Peaky Blinders, Netflix. (K16)