Peaky Blinders: what are fans saying about the sixth and final series?

The sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders is now well underway, with just two episodes remaining of the popular BBC One show.

The new series has followed on from five, which introduced Sam Claflin as the leader of the British Union of Fascists, Oswald Mosley, and ended with a cliffhanger as the Shelby family were betrayed by their allies.

In the finale, Tommy’s plan to kill Mosley failed after he was outwitted by the MP.

This series also follows the now frosty relationship between Tommy (Cillian Murphy) and his cousin Michael Gray (Finn Cole) - who was planning to take control of the Peaky Blinders in series 5.

Warning spoilers

In last Sunday’s episode (20 March), viewers were also left shocked after Tommy was diagnosed with an inoperable condition near his brain called tuburculum.

Could this mean the end for his character?

And in Sunday’s episode we also discovered that Tommy has an older son called Duke who he had never met before.

So far, the show’s creator Steven Knight has certainly sprung a few surprises, but what are the fans saying about the final season on social media?

What do fans think of the final series, so far?

Some have praised the season for its emotional depth, as seen in the tweets below.

One person wrote: “Peaky Blinders has always been about trauma, it is the underlying theme that runs through the entire show. Since the first mention of France, the first time we heard the shovels.

“It should not be a surprise to anyone that the final season is the full manifestation of this trauma.”

But others have aimed some criticism at the pace of series 6.

One Twitter user wrote: “Anyone else feel like Peaky Blinders is a tad slow this series? Least the sound track is good as always.”

Another wrote: “Got to say, I love Peaky Blinders. I’ve tried my hardest with season 6. I just feel it’s not lived up to where it needed to be.

“It’s painfully slow, everything feels really dragged out, I can’t see the arc of the season 4 episodes in out of 6. Maybe I’m just judging too early.”

Director responds to criticism

In a recent interview with the Radio Times, series 6 director Anthony Byrne responded to the criticism aimed at series 6.

He told the Radio Times: “You can’t continue to give people what they’re expecting.”

“You’re taking a show like Peaky that is culturally relevant, it’s a TV phenomenon, and there’s an expectation of, ‘I want Arthur kicking the s**t out of people and I want Tommy being Tommy and more Peaky stuff.’

“Season four was that. Season four was a gangster season with the Italians and the Peakys. There was a lot of gangster stuff and guns and all of that. And then season five was about the rise of fascism and it was darker.”

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