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'Peaky Blinders' Official Recap: Where Every Character Left Off In Season Four

Ciara Sheppard

Published 
| Last updated 

'Peaky Blinders' Official Recap: Where Every Character Left Off In Season Four

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Peaky Blinders season five is primed to fall in our laps any day now, and so it pays to be prepared. By that we mean recapping, revising and reimmersing ourselves in all things Peaky.

At this point true fans will be binge-watching all four series in frantic excitement, but we're people of realistic expectations, and not everyone is going to have an entire day to re-watch all 24 episodes. Therefore, in the interest of speed, we've decided to give a little recap, including where all the characters are at.

As we know, each season signals a new era in the Small Heath family's rise to power and wealth.

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In season one, the Peaky Blinders operate as a small but fearsome local gang who manage to take over Billy Kimber's betting pitches - a small but vital victory. Series two sees the family expand their criminal organisation, making alliances with Camden-based gang leader Alfie Solomons while making an enemy in Italian gang head Derby Sabini, while series three sees the Peakys expand internationally and simultaneously find themselves in bed with the Economic League to save their family stronghold.

The most recent series saw the Shelbys face their most dangerous enemies yet, as Tommy and his band of brothers battled the Italian mafia, lead by Luca Changretta (played excellently by Adrian Brody). Winning their fight, but losing some major players along the way (RIP John, Alfie), the season ends with Tommy taking his staggering power and influence to political realms, winning an election to become a Member of Parliament.

Here's how things stand for our favourite gun-wielding, flatcap-wearing Brummies:

Credit: BBC
Credit: BBC
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Tommy Shelby: Leader of the Peaky Blinders, family patriarch, OBE and newly-appointed MP, it's fair to say Thomas Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, is in a position of great power going into season five. The end of season four saw Tommy defeat his greatest opposition to date at the expense of losing his brother, John; find out he was expecting a son with Lizzy Starke; and win the election after securing an endorsement from the Crown for his bid. Tommy seems to have everything, but as we know, the Peaky leader's desire for power is insatiable and it awaits to be seen who he'll take on next. Al Capone, perhaps? The American gangster's involvement in series five was heavily hinted at the end of series four when Tommy made an alliance with him, ultimately ensuring his defeat of Luca when his henchmen switched loyalties.

Credit: BBC
Credit: BBC

Arthur Shelby: Tommy's brother and second-in-command, season four saw Arthur (played by Paul Anderson) struggling with the death of his brother while dealing with a cocaine problem and his stifling wife, Linda. The end of the season saw Arthur fake-die as a plot to trap Luca Changretta and let us tell you now we have never breathed a bigger sign of relief when he emerged from the dead. After the war was won, Tommy offered Arthur a get out clause and the chance to start a new life with a new identity (everyone thought he was dead after all), but he chose to stick by his brother's side as a member of the Shelby Company LM.

Credit: BBC
Credit: BBC
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Polly Gray: Family matriarch Polly Gray (played by Helen McCrory) is truly the glue that holds the Shelby family together. Season four saw her scheme with Tommy to bring down Luca Changretta to save her son Michael Gray's life. It also saw her have a fling with Aberama Gold, her first tryst since her love affair with painter Rueben Oliver in season three, which ended when she mistook him for a traitor.

Credit: BBC
Credit: BBC

Michael Gray: Season four saw newest member of the Shelby clan and Polly's son Michael Gray (played by Finn Cole) shot by Luca's gang, hospitalised and helpless as the Italian henchmen began picking off the Shelby's one-by-one. Michael isn't in Tommy's good books, having betrayed him in order to protect his mother when she made a faux-alliance with the Sicilian mafia leader behind Tommy's back. At the end of the series, Tommy sends Michael to America to expand business there.

Credit: BBC
Credit: BBC
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Finn Shelby: The Shelby's youngest sibling, Finn (played by harry Kirton) is primed and ready to step into the shoes that John left behind, taking his bladed peak cap to the eyes of the Italian henchman who tried to kill his brother Arthur and losing his virginity to a low cost prostitute. It awaits to be seen how he'll develop is season five.

The official series five synopsis reads: "Series five of Steven Knight's crime family saga finds the world thrown into turmoil by the financial crash of 1929.

"Opportunity and misfortune are everywhere. When Tommy Shelby MP is approached by a charismatic politician with a bold vision for Britain, he realises that his response will affect not just his family's future but that of the entire nation."

The new season will see Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Finn Cole, Kate Phillips and Natasha O'Keefe all reprise their roles in the new series, with new talent such as Hunger Games star Sam Claflin, Hollyoaks actor Emmett J Scanlan, and The Handmaid's Tale's Anya Taylor-Joy joining the cast, among many others.

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Credit: BBC
Credit: BBC

The teaser trailer, which was posted to BBC One's Twitter account, shows the Birmingham gangsters in all their glory as they arrive in London in support of Tommy as he takes up his new post in Westminster as an MP.

But as expected, their arrival in the big smoke is not without its challenges, with Tommy faced with tough opposition by Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists (played by Sam Claflin).

We truly cannot wait for this. Ready, set, GO...

Topics: Entertainment News, TV and Film, Peaky Blinder

Ciara Sheppard
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