Cillian Murphy receives first BAFTA nomination for Peaky Blinders - see who else is nominated

Cillian Murphy has received his first BAFTA nomination for his role as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders.

Following the end of the sixth and final series of the Birmingham-inspired gangster show last February, in which Murphy starred as the show’s protagonist Shelby, the Irishman has been filming Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, in which he stars as as J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist known as the “father of the atomic bomb”.

Murphy played the iconic role of Tommy Shelby for ten years, with the Steven Knight’s BBC drama having an indelible effect on our culture in the UK. The show event went down a hit in America, after US audiences and the rest of the world got to see the show on Netflix.

What award is Cillian Murphy up for?

The Inception and Batman star has now finally received a BAFTA nomination for his role as the leader of the Peaky Blinders clan, Tommy Shelby, in the sixth and final series of the period TV drama, which concluded in February 2022.

Murphy has been nominated in the BAFTA category for Leading Actor. His only other BAFTA nomination came for the Rising Star prize at the 2007 awards. Murphy’s nomination is the only one for Peaky Blinders at this year’s BAFTA awards.

It’s been a good couple of days for the Irish actor, who has also landed his next film role. It’s just been announced that he has joined the feature film adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These. The film will also star Ciarán Hinds and Emily Watson. Murphy will star as the lead character Bill Furlong, who comes across secrets being held by the Christian community in the town. The film is set during Christmas in 1985.

Who else is nominated for Leading Actor?

Here are the nominees in that cetgory:

• Ben Whishaw in This Is Going To Hurt - BBC
• Chaske Spencer in The English - BBC
• Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders - BBC
• Gary Oldman in Slow Horses - Apple TV
• Martin Freeman in The Responder - BBC

Leading Actress

• Billie Piper in I Hate Suzie Too - Sky
• Imelda Staunton in The Crown - Netflix
• Kate Winslet in I Am Ruth - Channel 4
• Maxine Peake in Anne - ITV
• Sarah Lancashire in Julie - Sky
• Vicky Mcclure in Without Sin - ITV

Who and what else is nominated?

Below is a breakdown of the many nominees at this year’s BAFTAs.

Comedy Entertainment Programme

• Friday Night Live - Channel 4
• The Graham Norton Show - ITV
• Taskmaster - Channel 4
• Would I Lie To You? - BBC

Current Affairs

• Afghanistan: No Country For Women - ITV
• Children of the Taliban - Channel 4
• The Crossing - Channel 4
• Mariupol: The People’s Story - BBC One

Daytime

• The Chase - ITV
• The Repair Shop - BBC
• Scam Interceptors - BBC

Drama Series

• Bad Sisters - Apple TV
• The Responder - BBC
• Sherwood - BBC
• Somewhere Boy - Channel 4

Entertainment Performance

• Big Zuu on Big Zuu’s Big Eats - Dave
• Claudia Winkleman on The Traitors - BBC
• Lee Mack on The 1% Club - ITV
• Mo Gilligan on The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan - Channel 4
• Rosie Jones on Rosie Jones’ Trip Hazard - Channel 4

Entertainment Programme

• Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway - ITV
• Later…with Jools Holland - BBC
• The Masked Singer - ITV
• Strictly Come Dancing - ITV

See the full list of nominations, here.