Peaky Blinders' Writers Were A Rare 'Gift' In The Eyes Of Cillian Murphy
While the writer's room for certain television shows leave room for improvisation with actors, or making alterations to the script as the episodes go by, Steven Knight knew precisely what "Peaky Blinders" season 6 was leading up to.
The BBC crime drama series premiered its sixth and final season earlier this year, wrapping up the journey of Tommy Shelby and his crime family, in a fitting end, at least until the "Peaky Blinders" movie. The show's success has been staggering, audiences over the world have enjoyed the story of Birmingham's most ambitious street gang, and actor Cillian Murphy has a lot to be grateful for: specifically, the show's scripts.
All praise for Steven Knight
Leading star Cillian Murphy, in an interview with Deadline, revealed that Knight's ability to have finished scripts at the very onset of filming the concluding season was an absolute "gift." The actor praised the show's creator and writer for being adaptable and prepared, which in turn, helped the cast perfectly embody their characters one last time.
Murphy was able to read all the scripts for the final season's six episodes at the very beginning of filming. The actor knew what his character was working toward, and although a few changes were made here and there, it was incredible for him to be this ready.
"One of the gifts of this show has been that we've always had six finished scripts at the beginning. I tell that to friends of mine that work on TV shows and they can't believe it because you hear about people starting shows with one script and not knowing where it's going to go. We've had this genius of a writer all the way through, you know, 36 hours of television — it's an absolute gift to have it. Obviously, we had to change in the face of circumstances, but Steve is an amazingly adaptable writer as well, which is another gift for us."
'I was very happy with the quality of the writing'
Murphy also serves as executive producer on "Peaky Blinders" and is pleased with how things have turned out. The Irish actor paid tribute to the crew, who worked tirelessly to make the season possible, despite the severe filming restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 global pandemic.
"I was very happy with the quality of the writing, particularly with that last finale — it was just excellently directed and conceived and performed by everybody. I do have to pay tribute to our crew. It was like the height of the second lockdown in the UK. It was insane the conditions we were working under, and they were just amazing. I'm very, very proud of it."
While the sixth season wraps up Tommy Shelby's story, Steven Knight is working on a "Peaky Blinders" movie and is nearly done writing the script. Whether the film will bring Tommy's adventures to light once again remains unknown, but the writer has promised that some surprising new faces will make an appearance.