Peaky Blinders

Last night I finally got around to watching the first episode of Peaky Blinders, the new BBC2 drama set in 1920s Birmingham. It's the tale of a family gang, the Peaky Blinders, who run a series of rackets around Birmingham and get their name from the razor blades sewn into the peaks of their caps.

I'd not really heard anything about it until after the first episode had aired, so it was a bit of a surprise to find Sam Neill and Cillian Murphy in the main roles and Nick Cave's Red Right Hand as the theme music. Cillian plays the young war veteran and rising star of the Peaky Blinders, with Sam Neill playing the Northern Irish Chief Inspector who has been drafted in to clean up Birmingham's rough streets by a young Churchill.

So far this is something very special. It feels like the writers and director have been paying close attention to what the Americans have been doing with some of their shows over the last few years and decided they could do one better. The cinematography is beautiful and so far there are some great plots kicking off, many of which would fit really nicely into an IHMN game. Roll on the next episode!