Peaky Blinders
The Peaky Blinders were a real street gang in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Birmingham, and the name of the BBC drama series, set in the city after the First World War, that made them world-famous. The real gang was made up mostly of young men from the poor inner districts and was known for violence, petty crime and a sharp style of dress.
In practice
The television series, first shown in 2013, follows the fictional Shelby family in Small Heath and turned the name into a global brand: flat caps, tailored suits and Birmingham accents became fashionable well beyond the city. Much of the series was filmed elsewhere, but Birmingham has embraced it with themed bars, tours, exhibitions and events. Historians point out that the real Peaky Blinders were far less glamorous than the fiction.
Why it matters to newcomers
Overseas visitors and colleagues often know Birmingham first through Peaky Blinders, so expect the question. The series also helped change attitudes to the Brummie accent, which it put at the centre of a prestige drama.
Related
- Digbeth - the industrial streets that look the part
- Back to Backs - how families of that era actually lived
- Brummie - the accent the series popularised
Source: Birmingham Museums.