Whatever you do don't mock their accents! For years the Brummie drawl has been a punchline or joke for mainstream drama. But all that changed last Thursday night with the launch of the ambitious six-part BBC drama PEAKY BLINDERS.
More than 11% of the audience (£2.4M) tuned in to see CILLIAN MURPHY deliver a career-best performance as Birmingham gangster Tommy Shelby in the highly acclaimed new drama from writer/director STEVEN KNIGHT (Hummingbird, Eastern Promises).
Courtesy of FILM BIRMINGHAM, the Infinite Wisdom Team were lucky enough to catch an advanced screening the night before it's television debut and to view the first two episodes in all their glory on the silver screen at CINEWORLD Broad Street.
Infinite Wisdom's MICHAEL FORD said: "Rarely does a show exceed your expectations. Peaky Blinders is truly filmic in style and grand in scale. It could have come straight out of the stables of HBO and no one would question it. Locals are bound to love it but first and foremost it's a fantastic drama and certainly one of the best in recent years and that's what really counts!"
And it seems the show has not just been a hit with the locals but with audiences and critics alike who have praised the glossy but gritty gangster saga drawing positive parallels with HBO's BOARDWALK EMPIRE. Series creator Steven Knight, first conceived the project 12 years ago, but it wasn't until his more recent successes on the big screen that the stars began to align for his small screen epic.
And align the stars have. The series, which was partially shot in the West Midlands, features a stellar cast which also includes PAUL ANDERSON (The Sweeney, Passion), HELEN McCRORY (Skyfall, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), ANNABELLE WALLIS (Pan Am, The Tudors) and screen legend SAM NEILL (Jurassic Park, Dr Zhivago).
If there's one thing that people should take from the show - it's never underestimate where great drama and great stories live! Watch PEAKY BLINDERS on BBC2 (Thursday at 9pm) or BBC iPlayer.
