Peaky blinders

• Peaky Blinders


  A TV show
• Industry


  A TV show
• This video is particularly relevant for you if you are studying A-level media studies, as Peaky Blinders currently appears as a set text on that specification from 2024 onwards
• Stephen Knight


  The creator of Peaky Blinders
• Stephen Knight grew up in a small Heath area of Birmingham and had quite a lot of knowledge of this rural regional area of Britain
• Stephen Knight had written several other very successful films and TV programs, such as Dirty Pretty Things, Hummingbird, Eastern Promises, which were crime dramas that focused on social issues and working class concerns
• Stephen Knight's desire to create the show and his involvement actually helped to attract funding and companies to work with him
• BBC2


  The channel that got involved with helping to fund the show and commissioning Tiger Aspect and other companies to produce it
• Peaky Blinders


  • Crime genre
  • Gangsters
  • Violence
  • Visual spectacle
  • Period costumes and settings
• Production companies involved


  • Karen Mandelbak Productions
  • Tiger Aspect
• Audiences


  Found Peaky Blinders more entertaining than Downton Abbey because it was less sanitized, more violent, and more dark
• Karen Mandelbak


  The secretary producer of Karen Mandelbak Productions, who is very experienced and had won several Emmys
• Audiences


  Found Peaky Blinders informative or educational because it is based on a historical time period and a real gang called the Peaky Blinders
• Tiger Aspect


  A production company that had worked on a number of other series that had done very well, such as Cuffs, Ripper Street, Prisoners Wives, Billy Elliot, Coming Down the Mountain
• Audiences


  Enjoyed the show's social commentary on class, wealth, and poverty, particularly if they were left-leaning politically
• The BBC is a public service broadcaster, which means they are not commercial, have no adverts, and are funded by license fees, allowing them to take risks with programming and appeal to a narrower audience
• Audiences


  Enjoyed the show's old-fashioned setting, costumes, and ideas as a form of escapism and nostalgia
• Part of the BBC's public service broadcasting remit is to inform, educate and entertain, and to represent Britain including all of its regional areas, which may have contributed to their interest in commissioning and funding Peaky Blinders
• In 2018, Ofcom reported that the BBC was not fulfilling its remit to represent regional areas of the country well enough, and was not doing enough to represent working class Britain, which may have further contributed to the BBC's interest in Peaky Blinders
• Peaky Blinders characters


  • Typically masculine heroes involved in violence, aggression, and physical/mental/emotional strength
  • Counter-typical feminist representations of tough, powerful, and strong female characters
• The BBC had been systematically moving all of their studios and offices up north, helping them to film more products in northern areas of Britain
• Peaky Blinders is a BBC drama, which gives it a certain air of quality that attracts audiences
• The BBC had a rough budget of around 1.5 million dollars per episode of Peaky Blinders
• Not all audiences respond the same way to Peaky Blinders, with some taking a more negotiated or oppositional reading
• Audiences who took a negotiated or oppositional reading


  Found the show too violent or graphic, lacked factual accuracy, or disliked the use of modern music and inaccurate accents
• Actors cast in Peaky Blinders to attract audiences


  • Cillian Murphy
  • Sam Neill
  • Helen McCrory
  • David Dawson
  • Tommy Flanagan
  • Tom Hardy
• Peaky Blinders had a big impact on fans, leading to increased tourism, fashion trends, and fan events
• Most of the filming for Peaky Blinders was focused in places within Yorkshire, such as Leeds, as well as Liverpool, Blackpool, and Birmingham, due to the funding from the Yorkshire Screen Fund
• The accents of some of the cast had to be toned down slightly to increase accessibility for global audiences, particularly in America, who were struggling to understand the stronger regional accents
• The first series of Peaky Blinders was released on BBC Two from 2013 onwards, but later series were moved to BBC One, reflecting the show's success and the BBC's decision to give it a more prime-time mainstream slot
• Peaky Blinders is also available on iPlayer, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, reflecting a move away from set schedules and towards streaming platforms
• Active audiences


  Were given opportunities to engage with behind-the-scenes content, social media, and interactive experiences
• The BBC initially approached the Weinstein Company and Endemol in America to distribute the first couple of series of Peaky Blinders internationally, but later moved away from the Weinstein Company due to the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and instead sold the rights to Netflix
• Streaming Peaky Blinders on Netflix and Prime has helped attract a more modern audience
• There are rumors that there will be a Peaky Blinders movie, reflecting the show's success and the desire to franchise and increase the number of products to make extra money
• Celebrity cast


  Was a real draw for the program, engaging fans of the actors' previous work