The makers of the new series of Peaky Blinders have released the first image of Charlie Heaton as Charles Shelby.
The Stranger Things actor plays a pivotal part in the new show, which is set in Post-War Britain, and will follow a new generation of the Peaky Blinders, made notorious by Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) in the original series. Murphy bid farewell to the part in the Netflix original film The Immortal Man, and now the story focuses on his sons.
The official synopsis for the show reads: “Having fought a violent war, much of it behind enemy lines, Charles Shelby (Heaton) is now embracing normality. He hasn’t seen his half-brother Duke – played by Jamie Bell – in years.
“Charles severed all ties to the Peaky Blinders gang, and the hedonistic Shelby lifestyle. But can you ever escape your own blood?”
British actor Jamie Bell replaces Barry Keoghan, who played Duke in The Immortal Man. The show also stars Jessica Brown Findlay (Silo), Lashana Lynch (No Time to Die). The new series will run for six episodes and air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, while streaming on Netflix for countries outside the UK.
Debuting in 2013, Peaky Blinders was loosely based on a real life gang in Birmingham. Run by the Shelby family, and led by Tommy Shelby (Murphy), it saw them gain power and influence far beyond their city in the years after World War One, while also battling their personal demons.
The original show ran for six series, putting the city of Birmingham in the global spotlight and making Tommy Shelby a cultural icon.
Recently, the series creator Steven Knight revealed that Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man almost included a twist involving the ghost of Tom Hardy’s character, Alfie Solomons.