Everything You Need To Remember Before Watching Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

"Peaky Blinders" creator Steven Knight famously embraces the idea of changing things up rather than planning out entire arcs or storylines ahead of time ... but, come on, this is what the entire BBC series has been building to, isn't it? "The Immortal Man" marks the culmination of a journey that began as far back as 2013. Once upon a time, it was really only UK audiences who turned out in droves for this oddly-titled little show about 1900s gangsters with razor blades hidden in their newsboy caps. Over time, however, the franchise has truly become international and now all eyes turn to its grand debut on the big screen with "The Immortal Man."

Of course, the sequel movie doesn't exist in a vacuum. Screenwriter Steven Knight and director Tom Harper stood on the shoulders of lore spanning well over a decade. Ideally, those interested in the movie would've spent the last few months working their way through the original series, which is now available to stream on Netflix in its entirety. For those of us with rather less time on their hands than that, it's worth taking a trip down memory lane through all the biggest events that Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby and his associates experienced. This is a film that never stops to catch viewers up on characters or events or references to the past, so a working knowledge of what went down in "Peaky Blinders" will definitely come in handy.

Consider this your must-read guide for everything you need to remember to watch "The Immortal Man," by order of the Peaky freakin' Blinders. We've come a long way since the show began and first introduced us to these cigar-chomping, gun-toting criminals. Now, it's finally time for (at least) one more ride.

While "The Immortal Man" picks up with Tommy Shelby in the twilight of his career, "Peaky Blinders" kicked things off with his first and greatest nemesis of all. Back in season 1, the criminal gang based in Small Heath, Birmingham was but a humble horserace-betting outfit taking advantage of general lawlessness in the years following World War I. They fixed races, resorted to Romani parlor tricks to manipulate local gamblers to back the wrong horse, and paid off the police to look the other way. It's not the most honest way to make a living, but someone had to do it ... that is, until a chance discovery provided Tommy with the perfect opportunity to level up in the world.

When a misplaced shipment of government-financed weapons headed for Libya falls into the hands of the Peaky Blinders, Tommy concocts a scheme to put the gang squarely on the map. In response, a young Winston Churchill sends Sam Neill's downright psychopathic Chief Inspector Chester Campbell to find those responsible and recover the guns at all costs. Naturally, he haunts Tommy's every step and makes life miserable for him and his family of outlaws — but, in the midst of this rivalry, he sends Grace Burgess (Annabelle Wallis) as a spy to discover where Tommy's hidden this cache. Thus begins a love triangle of sorts that goes on to define Tommy's entire post-War life. Wracked by trauma and irrevocably changed by his experiences as a tunneler in France, Tommy's only hope for redemption is embodied by his burgeoning love for Grace.

Although "The Immortal Man" doesn't directly reference these events, Tommy's war against Campbell in the first two seasons is a clear highlight of the show and a perfect foundation of everything that follows.

Well, you had to know things wouldn't end happily ever after, right? Despite emerging victorious from his scrap with Major Campbell (though things got pretty dicey towards the end), Tommy and the Shelby Company Ltd. have little choice but to keep taking bigger and bigger risks to further establish their growing empire. Illegal betting turns into gunrunning which in turn gives way to committing outright murder for the IRA under the threat of blackmail. This culminates in a near-death experience at the end of season 2 that finally forces Tommy to reassess his life and settle down with Grace ... but things don't quite go according to plan.

In perhaps the second-greatest calamity in Tommy's life (only outdone by the War itself), a petty grievance with the local Italian mob escalates into an assassination attempt on Tommy that claims Grace's life instead. From this point onwards, any hope of Tommy finding peace is all but extinguished. Consumed by guilt and grief, he triples down on an expansion of the Peaky Blinders. His next move is to get in bed with the Russians (quite literally, on occasion), wage war on a splinter cell of the IRA, and officially welcome his long-lost cousin Michael (Finn Cole) into the family — the last of which will have quite dire consequences down the road.

In short, the tragic death of Grace fundamentally alters the trajectory of the series and Tommy himself forever, the ripple effects of which linger to the events of "The Immortal Man."

Where does a criminal organization go after scratching and clawing its way to the top of the food chain? The answer is obvious: politics! Though season 4 is predominantly about Tommy Shelby warding off another rival gang bent on revenge (this time involving the Italians), both this and season 5 mark a stunning pivot for the Peaky Blinders as Tommy officially becomes Tommy Shelby, OBE. Now an officially elected representative of Birmingham's populace, our favorite gangster enjoys a much larger influence and seat of power than he could've ever imagined for himself. Naturally, this puts him on a collision course with his next major challenge: the fascist political figure Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin).

This is perhaps the most relevant season with regards to "The Immortal Man," at least to this point in the show's run. While not exactly the most progressive figure in the early 1900s, Tommy's inherent distaste of everything that Mosley and his party of fascists represents is a significant aspect of his character — particularly as the film moves the action into the midst of World War II and the Blitz. A painstaking attempt to take out Mosley backfires spectacularly and, combined with his continued grief over Grace, puts Tommy on the verge of suicide. Only the actions of his loyal brother Arthur (Paul Anderson) and wife Lizzie (Natasha O'Keeffe) pulls him back from the brink, though he has little time to dwell on his failures as the next major threat to him and his family is already on the rise.

If you've been wondering what the heck the title "The Immortal Man" is all about, a re-watch of "Peaky Blinders" season 6 would definitely seem to be in order. Throughout the entirety of the show, we've watched Tommy Shelby cheat death again and again. In the final season of the original series (not counting the next two that have already been greenlit, of course), this becomes much more literal when he's diagnosed with what appears to be a fatal case of tuberculosis. This latest blow — coming so soon after the death of his beloved Aunt Polly (Helen McCrory), the loss of his daughter Ruby to the same disease, his crumbling marriage with Lizzie, and his cousin Michael's treachery — is one too many, as it turns out.

If Tommy was already behaving like a man with an expiration date, this last straw leads to even more recklessness as he comes to terms with his standing as an "ordinary mortal man." With Michael dealt with but nothing more to life for, Tommy burns down his extravagant mansion, bids a terse farewell to his entire family, and sets off into the country to end his life on his own terms. But, just as he makes peace with this, a ghostly vision of Ruby convinces him to reexamine the chain of events leading him here. As he soon discovers, his doctor is actually a close friend and associate of Oswald Mosley and has been feeding him lies. As he succinctly puts it, his enemies realized that the only one who could kill Tommy Shelby is Tommy Shelby himself. When he rides away from his own burning pyre, the stage is fully set for his return.

"Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man" streams on Netflix March 20, 2026.