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When will ‘Peaky Blinders’ Season 6 return? Here's how Tommy will find traitor in his gang after Covid-19 break

According to director Anthony Byrne, Season 6 will reportedly pick up immediately where Season 5 left things off

Where is the tall handsome man in a dusty black coat? Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) — the leader of the Peaky Blinders — may be out of sight, but he is never out of mind. Last aired on September 22, 2019, in the UK, ‘Peaky Blinders’ fans are anticipating the new season. Over a year has passed and it's been a long, long wait since then. Sadly, there seems to be no news of the release anytime soon. 

Sending a note of thanks to his fans earlier in April, Murphy penned down a letter after the sad news that the filming of season six has been postponed due to Covid-19. “Hello everyone, sending love and fortitude to Peaky fans everywhere. We will be back as soon as we can, I promise… causing chaos and knocking heads as usual. I wanna send a special thank you to all our wildly talented crew for all their hard work and their talent, and for their forbearance and patience during this time.”

He continued, “So I dunno about you guys but sometimes I wonder what Tommy Shelby would be doing in a quarantine…? I really hope he would be busy writing volume one of his memoirs, ‘Tommy Shelby – The Pre-War Years.’ That’s something I’d like to read. And I think by now he is definitely cutting his own hair with his hat, while smoking a cigarette.”

Where we left off

The ruthless mafioso Thomas Shelby is now an elected Labour MP for Birmingham South. ‘Peaky Blinders’ Season 5 began with a boom but ended with a cloud of doom. In a rare turn of events, the mastermind's plans tanked. Jogging down the memory lane, remember how the assassination of MP Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin) failed?

What's more, there were quite a few shocking entries and exits too. Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy) made a comeback with a discolored eye and scarred face. But Aberama Gold (Aidan Gillen), his son Bonnie (Jack Rowan), Barney Thompson (Cosmo Jarvis) and Colonel Ben Younger (Kingsley Ben-Adir) ended up losing their lives.

Spectacularly badass in the fifth installment, Polly Gray (Helen McCroy) resigned from Shelby Company Ltd and Michael Gray (Finn Cole) was already waiting in the wings with wife Gina (Anya Taylor-Joy) to inherit the business empire from Tommy. And if all that was not enough to digest, the level-headed Tommy held a gun to his head in manic frustration after going through a huge turmoil throughout the season. 

According to director Anthony Byrne, Season 6 will reportedly pick up immediately where Season 5 left things off. “The very first image you will see will be back in that field, with Tommy with a gun to his head and then we will move on from there and resolve that amazing moment.”

What we'd like to see

Creator Steven Knight has outlined the next two seasons and calls the upcoming Season 6 in its entirety “the best yet.” Emmett J Scanlan, who played Billy Grade in the show, described the scripts as being “so f**king good,” in an interview with Digital Spy. He also said, “I've read all the scripts since then, which of course are all subject to change...It won't disappoint, I promise you. Steven is a master.” Well, while we may not be able to dish too many details, we can safely tell you that the first episode of the season is titled “Black Day,” as per a photo director Anthony Byrne shared on his Instagram page. 

In fact, Knight had planned the next two seasons back in 2018. After clinching a BAFTA trophy for Best Drama Series, he told reporters, “My ambition is to make it a story of a family between two wars. So I’ve wanted to end it with the first air raid siren in Birmingham in 1939. It’ll take three more series to reach that point.” In another interview, he also said, “In my mind this story is the story between two wars. The end of the chapter of these people’s lives and this society is when the Second World War begins. Because it all changes after that, after the demolitions and the council estates, it’s a different world.” 

Now, as the next season returns, Shelby has a lot to do. The biggest question buzzing in everyone's minds is: Who is the traitor in his clan? How will Peaky Blinders avenge the death of the Gold family members Aberama and Bonnie? Will the family split after the rising rebellion led by cousin Michael Gray (Finn Cole) and his wife Gina Gray (Anya Taylor-Joy)? Byrne said, “Well Gina is obviously American and she comes from quite an influential American family, who are not overtly a crime family. But there’s a lot of grey there and that’s sort of teed up to be delved into in the next season.”

Many feel Billy (played by Scanlan) could be the traitor. “Some guy in my gym shouted 'RAT' across the floor after the final episode aired,” the actor told Digital Spy. “But hypothetically speaking, would you blame him if he did [betray Tommy Shelby]? They do force him, threaten him, manipulate him into doing their bidding. They do bully him psychologically and physically. So if he did, and I'm not saying he did, would you blame him?” Scanlan added: “If he isn't the rat, then I'd like him to [personally stand up to the Peaky Blinders].”

We also feel Tommy's love for Grace will never die and she will keep returning as a ghost. As actress Annabelle Wallis wrote, “She has some unfinished business...”

The makers have also teased a new female character who “gives Tommy a run for his money” and “challenges him in a different way”. Byrne said in an interview, “She’s certainly not a protagonist and I don’t know if she’s an antagonist. It’s similar to Mosley… she has a similar ideology, and that’s challenging for any character… they don’t have guns or a gang, but they have an ideology that’s like a virus and it’s more dangerous than anything.”

In another exciting piece of news, Knight has confirmed that Stephen Graham will appear in season six or season seven. “Not [as] Al Capone – I didn't want to go west because it's a minefield once you go into Chicago gangsters,” he told Obsessed With Peaky Blinders. “I refer to him last series, but I didn't want to go into that.” When asked what Graham's role will be, he said: “I've already got it and I'm not going to tell you [laughs]!” And fans who were wondering if Rowan Atkinson has been cast as Hitler, well, that certainly is “definitely not true,” as per Metro.co.uk.

When is it returning?

Although the loyal fans know in their hearts that Tommy can't die, many fans fear for his death after that gun scene. We assure you Tommy has a long way to go. According to Knight, his “intention always has been to redeem [Tommy Shelby] so that at the end, he’s genuinely a good man doing good things.”

He also said, “It’s all part of the trajectory of Tommy Shelby. Where his plans work, until they don’t and then he’s pulled back, always pulled back to where he’s from… and I want to see [him] knighted – Sir Thomas Shelby. He wouldn’t get knighted because people think he’s great, he’d get knighted because he’s done a favor. But even then, is he accepted?” 

Now, with all those juicy snippets, aren't you craving to watch the show? Sadly, the new season is not ready for release yet. The production was planned from the months of March into late July, but it had to be stalled due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Sharing the bad news, director Byrne said on Instagram: “We were so close to the start of filming season 6,” adding, “Months of hard work by our very talented, dedicated and hardworking crew. Sets were built, costumes were made. Cameras and lenses tested. Locations were booked. All the prep was done. It’s a real shame not to be able to make it for you at this time.”

“In an ideal world, it would be great to be prepping again towards the end of the year with a view to starting shooting early next year. That feels achievable, whether that’s true or not, I have no idea,” he then said during a live interview with Digital Spy. “We were due to start filming at the end of March [2020] until the end of July. If we did start shooting in January, we wouldn't finish until May / June and then it's another 6 months of editing.”

That brings us to the answer: ‘Peaky Blinders’ fans will have to wait until mid-to-late 2021 or even early 2022 to watch Season 6. Sigh! Well, get that tub of popcorn and rewatch the old episodes until then.