Cillian Murphy has offered some intriguing insight into the upcoming sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders, describing it as “dark as f—k.” Which frankly sounds like precisely what the Peaky Blinders send-off needs to be. Speaking with Esquire, Murphy is forbidden from revealing much else about the sixth season (no doubt by order of the Peaky Blinders). The actor did go on to tease Tommy Shelby’s continuing arc, leaving a question mark over whether the gang leader will find redemption come the series’ conclusion.

“I think that’s what Steve was aiming for, with loads of wrong turns along the way. But I don’t know. I’ll leave that to the court of public opinion. I don’t know if he’s been redeemed.”

While Tommy’s fate remains unknown, the description of Peaky Blinders Season 6 as “dark as f--k” could not be clearer. The series so far has been praised for its grim and gritty depiction of the activities of the Peaky Blinders and the world in which they inhabit, and fans will no doubt be hugely excited to hear that things are going to get even darker.

It is this depiction that has left Cillian Murphy somewhat confused over why audiences would want to spend time with such villainous individuals as Tommy Shelby and his family. “Duality is what I’m interested in, that thing of: how the f--k can he be such a sensitive, good father but commit this heinous f--king act?” the actor said. “People are willing to spend an awful long time with characters who, if someone described them to you in daily life, you would say, ‘Keep that person away from me.’ Is it only in television that that exists?”

Peaky Blinders Season 6 Will Tackle World War II

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BBC Studios

Creator Steven Knight recently teased some of the themes and real-world happenings that will be dealt with in Peaky Blinders Season 6, revealing that the story will span the entirety of the Second World War. “It was always Britain between the wars – how the lesson from one war was not learned and was repeated. It’s also the end of empire: we enter the Second World War and by the end of it, there is no empire, really. But I… have revised the scope of what it is. It will now go into and beyond the Second World War. Because I just think the energy that is out there in the world for this, I want to keep it going, and I want to see how this can progress beyond that.”

Starring Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby Jr., Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons, Finn Cole as Michael Gray, Anya Taylor-Joy as Gina Gray, Sam Claflin as Oswald Mosley, and Stephen Graham, Peaky Blinders season 6 is scheduled to be released later this year. Though the sixth season has been confirmed to be the final season, Peaky Blinders will continue in feature-length form, with Steven Knight stating that they are hoping to begin filming on the Peaky Blinders movie in 2023. Peaky Blinders spinoffs are also expected to follow.