Stars hit red carpet for premiere of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

By Matthew Cooper, Press Association

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has said shooting will start soon on the “brilliant” follow-up series to The Immortal Man feature film.

Speaking on the red carpet at the world premiere of the film in Birmingham, Knight said it had been a “very, very happy” experience to make The Immortal Man in his home city.

The much-awaited feature film, which launches in select cinemas on Friday and on Netflix from March 20th, is set in Birmingham in 1940 and sees Cillian Murphy reprise his role as Tommy Shelby in a film written by Knight and directed by Tom Harper.

Asked to describe the experience of making film in Birmingham, with previous series often shot in northern England, Knight said: “Before, we shot a lot of it in the north but I sort of insisted that this one we do here.

“And the production team were absolutely astonished by what we got here, what we got in terms of locations, of how the city looks, and the way they were welcomed.

“So it was a very, very happy experience to shoot it here.”

Asked what lay ahead in terms of the Peaky Blinders series, Knight responded: “I can’t tell you a lot because I’m not allowed to. But it’s after the war and it’s brilliant.

“We start shooting very soon.”

The Immortal Man sees Duke Shelby, played by Barry Keoghan, and a new generation of Peaky Blinders drawn into a Nazi plot that puts the future of the family at stake as Britain and the rest of Europe battle Hitler’s war machine.

Also speaking at the film launch, amid an extensive array of props in Birmingham’s Centenary Square, Murphy said of The Immortal Man: “I think if you write great parts, you get great actors.”

Asked how the character of Tommy Shelby had developed from shortly after the First World War to 1940, Murphy told the Press Association: “Oh my God, I don’t know if I can give you that in a soundbite. You’d need to watch the 36 hours of TV. It’s kind of very, very complex, you know.”

He added: “I’m immensely proud of the work, I’m immensely proud of the show, I’m immensely proud of the fans.”

Murphy said of acting and filming in Birmingham: “Loved it, it was amazing.”

Knight, who earlier on Monday unveiled a West Midlands Metro tram named in his honour, said: “Birmingham is one of the stars of the film. It’s a great story. It’s very entertaining, and I am told that the reaction … there’s a lot of emotion around it.

“There’s a lot of people end the thing in tears, which is great because that’s what we wanted. So, yeah, I think it’s a very powerful piece, and I’m really proud of it.”

Reservoir Dogs actor Tim Roth and co-star Rebecca Ferguson also spoke on the red carpet ahead of the screening.

Ferguson, who takes on the role of Kaulo in the film, said working with Knight and Harper had been “incredible” and likened it to “sitting in a pub with some mates and playing some cards and having some pints”.

“It’s safe, and I think when you have a safe set you are free to explore and you are free to have fun, and to not think about making a fool of yourself,” she said.

Roth, who plays Beckett, said he had chosen not to watch previous series of Peaky Blinders before portraying his character, opting to hold off and come to his role “completely fresh”.

Asked if he had sought Murphy’s advice before making the decision, Roth answered: “No. I was a bit nervous about telling him to be honest, but he laughed, which is typical Cillian.”

Harper said of making the movie on the streets of Birmingham: “It was actually, honestly, really wonderful.

“It’s hard to explain, but when you’re on the streets of Digbeth or Small Heath – that is the place where the myth of the Peaky Blinders was born.

“Sometimes, if you just close your eyes for a minute you can almost slip back in time and feel what it must have been like for those characters, living in that time, and I think that can’t help but seep into the filmmaking. And then, hopefully, when the audience watches the film, they’ll feel that too.”