The Peaky Blinders creator shares his justifications for which characters die in the film

The Shelby family really don’t have a good survival rate in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. So many main characters are killed off in the film. The creator of Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight, has explained the reasoning behind which characters die. Read through his justifications as you mourn.

Arthur Shelby

Peaky Blinders viewers speculated about what role Arthur would have in the film. The actor Paul Anderson plead guilty to possessing crack cocaine in 2024.

We learn part-way through The Immortal Man that in the time jump between the show and the film, Arthur stole Tommy’s car, they fought, and Tommy killed him. Steven Knight says he always planned to kill off Arthur, as the plot of the film depended on it. He explained to The Hollywood Reporter: “What I’ll say is that the story determines the cast, and the story was set. I knew that Tommy needed to have done something that he couldn’t forgive himself for. Therefore, that’s why the plot went in that particular direction.”

Although there were other characters close to Tommy who could die in the film, Steven Knight said on Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Podcast that Arthur’s death had particular impact. “Everything that Tommy has ever stood for is family. And here he is, he shot his own brother. Everything falls apart after that. There is nothing left because everything you’ve ever stood for, everything you’ve represented, has gone.”

Ada Thorne

Although she was a huge character in the show, she dies partway through the film. John Beckett shoots her, then Tommy promises to avenge her and whatnot.

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Steven seems to have disposed of Ada for two reasons. Firstly, her death is useful for the plot. The murder motivates Tommy to emerge from hiding and wade into all the mess. The second reason is to do with the themes of the show. Steven shared on The Immortal Man Podcast: “It’s an expression of the nature of violence, and the idea that at that time, death was like that. The bomb drops, you’re gone. So, I wanted to reflect that.”

Tommy (sorry)

I blame Saltburn for this
(Image via Netflix)

Yup, he dies. Sozzles. Apparently, Tommy isn’t as sad about this as all the Peaky Blinders viewers. Steven Knight told Tudum: “He welcomes it. And the point is that for a long time, probably since he got back from the trenches, death has always been an option for him. That’s what’s made him so strong and powerful.

“If you’ve got someone who is prepared to die, they’re almost unstoppable.”

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Featured image credit: Netflix