Peaky Blinders: Tommy Shelby is at death's door. Plus, 8 other things we learned from episode 4 (2024)

Tommy Shelby's at death's door

As the credits of Peaky Blindersrolled, it didn’t look good for Brummie crime kingpin Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy). He’d been beaten half to death, injected with drugs, was sweating profusely, viscerally vomiting and staggering around, having lost his eyesight. Tommy had a fractured skull, concussion, internal bleeding and haemorrhaging. He had to hop himself up on cocaine just to stay standing.

When sister Ada (Sophie Rundle) dashed off to call an ambulance, Tommy was having visions of hell. He survived a wartime tunnel collapse, so let’s trust he makes another miraculous recovery. Birmingham, Britain and the series finale needs him. As, we've just discovered, do series four and five...

But he'll be back

Rejoice, Shelbyites! Yes, news broke earlier today that your favourite Midlands mob epic has been recommissioned for a fourth and fifth run, with Cillian Murphy returning. So we can safely assume that Tommy's not dead. Phew. Does this mean, though, that his foes - Father Hughes, the Economic League, the Russians, the Italians - will survive the finale and live to fight the Peaky Blinders another day?

Another Shelby has definitely died though

After the shooting of Tommy’s wife Grace (Annabelle Wallis) a fortnight ago, now it was the turn of his estranged father. The boozy bully walked out on the Shelbys 15 years ago, resurfaced briefly in series one (wanting money) and his death happened off-screen in a Boston bar. Tommy broke the news to his brothers on a “works outing” - a Good Friday stag-hunting expedition because “how to kill and cut a stag” was the only thing Arthur Sr ever taught them.

These were beautifully shot scenes (perhaps with borrowed footage from Noughties BBC stablemate Monarch of the Glen?) and Tommy delivered another superb speech, recalling his “no f**kin’ fighting” wedding address in episode one: “We eat and then we forget him, no need to forgive him. Agreed? Right, that’s done. F*** him.” And off rode the Shelbys, like horsem*n of the apocalypse.

Aunt Polly’s guilt came from nowhere

The family’s formidable matriarch Aunt Polly (Helen McCrory) has seemed untroubled by conscience until now, so her sudden drunken confession to the local priest came out of leftfield. Not only did she admit to shooting corrupt cop Major Campbell (Sam Neill) in series two but warned that the gang were about to kill a man of the cloth. Cue the indiscreet priest running straight to devilish Father Hughes (Paddy Considine). All rather contrived but we’ll forgive this quibble because it led to some great scenes.

Don't mess with the creepy cleric

Tommy finally got permission to kill Hughes but we knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Having laid a trap and lulled his foe into a false sense of security, Hughes’ hired muscle jumped Tommy as he was poised to pull the trigger. A brutal beating was administered and Tommy’s skull sickeningly fractured. That cracking sound won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

How sinister was Hughes’ beatific smile as he watched Tommy suffer, then that smug scene at The Ritz as he forced Tommy to apologise? When Hughes made him replace God’s name with his own in the Act of Contrition, it became clear what a megalomaniac the poisonous padre truly is.

Could Mary be the mole in the Shelbys’ midst?

Hughes hissed dark threats about Ada and Tommy’s toddler son Charles, warning: “We have people in your life.” My money’s on one of his sisters-in-law, Linda (Kate Phillips) or Esme (Aimee-Ffion Edwards). Then again, housekeeper Mary (Wendy Nottingham) suddenly has a higher profile. Et tu, Mary?

Feminism has reached Small Heath

Why should the men have all the fun? As they “lived like lords”, the fed-up Shelby women were left to do all the work. Encouraged by troublesome Linda, they staged a walkout and joined the city-wide march of female workers on the Bullring to demand equality. Polly even ended up making revolutionary speeches from the back of a wagon.

Jessie Eden, the female shop steward who was mentioned, was a real historical figure - a wartime munitions worker turned militant unionist who played a key local role in the 1926 General Strike.

Girl power was everywhere. Linda played hardball with Tommy over husband Arthur’s slice of the loot, haggling him up from £30,000 to £41,000. Pregnant Esme told John that she felt like “a hen in a coop”. Lizzie (Natasha O’Keeffe) expressed dissatisfaction at Tommy using her for sex. The women even got their own slo-mo sequence, striding through the streets of Small Heath to the strains of PJ Harvey.

You wait ages for a robbery and two come along at once

So now we know the final play, which will unfold over the next two weeks. Double agent Hughes has been dealing arms for the White Russians - while feeding information to the Soviets. The British establishment want the Soviets to blow up the train, committing a violent act on UK soil which allows the government to break off diplomatic relations.

Tommy knows the armoured cars stolen from the Lanchester factory are merely bait and the Peaky Blinders are being sacrificed, so needs to pull off the heist while keeping his men out of danger. Neither does he trust the Russians to pay up, so is planning a daring raid on their subterranean treasury that same night. Think Hatton Garden: the Prequel.

The best episode so far

This third run got off to a slow start but cranked into gear here with a corking hour of drama. The plot moved on apace, twists came thick and fast, there was tense action and delicious dialogue. Like a gathering storm, it’s all building brilliantly towards the climactic two episodes.

Next week…

The penultimate instalment sees Tommy call in help, cousin Michael embrace the badness, Polly’s portrait unveiled and the Russians throw one helluva party.