Birmingham crime boss Thomas Shelby heads into perilous territory in the second season of Steven Knight’s gangster epic, Peaky Blinders.
The cast includes Cillian Murphy (Inception), Helen McCrory (Harry Potter), Noah Taylor (Game of Thrones) and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises).
> Buy the complete Season 1-2 boxset on Amazon.
Episode 1
Thursday 2 October 2014, 9pm
> Read our spoiler-free review.
As the 1920s begin to roar, business is booming for the Peaky Blinders gang. Shelby starts to expand his legal and illegal operations. He has his sights set firmly on wider horizons, and the race tracks of the South are calling out for new management.
Shelby’s meteoric rise brings him into contact with both the upper echelons of society and astonishing new adversaries from London’s criminal enterprises. All will test him to the core, though in very different ways.
Meanwhile, Shelby’s home turf of Birmingham is beset by new challenges as members of his family react to the upturn in their fortunes, and an enemy from his past returns to the city with plans for a revenge of biblical proportions.
Episode 2
Thursday 9 October 2014, 9pm
Having rescued Tommy from Sabini, Major Campbell now initiates his grand scheme.
With intelligence confirming that Tommy murdered an Irish dissident, Tommy has no choice but to be a pawn in Campbell’s treacherous, political game. Never one to concede easily, Tommy seeks to turn the situation to his advantage.
With Darby Sabini still after Tommy’s blood, the Peaky Blinders desperately require an ally if they are to succeed in conquering the South. Tommy smuggles himself into London and breaks bread with the enigmatic and volatile Jewish gang leader, Alfie Solomons. The pair strike a deal – but is Tommy in over his head?
Meanwhile, Shelby’s home turf of Birmingham is beset by new challenges. The grand opening of the refurbished Garrison pub should see the entire Shelby clan gather in celebration, but Arthur continues to be tormented by the horrors of the war. Moreover, Aunt Polly has become obsessed with the search for her children, who were taken from her long ago.
Episode 3
Thursday 16 October 2014, 9pm
Tommy and London crime boss Alfie Solomons initiate their business venture, but when Alfie’s volatility is exposed Tommy worries that this could be the beginning of a hazardous partnership.
London gangster Darby Sabini has a warrant of execution out on Tommy. With the news that Tommy has teamed up with Alfie Solomons, Sabini’s wrath intensifies and he orders a vicious act of revenge.
After Michael’s shocking arrival on Polly’s doorstep, the estranged mother and son tentatively start to bond and he’s introduced to the rest of the Shelby family. While Polly attempts to protect her son from the illegitimate dealings of the business, Michael is intoxicated by the excitement and danger courted by the Shelbys. When Tommy pursues an opportunity to acquire a race horse, Michael determines to join them.
At the horse auction, Tommy crosses paths with the aristocratic and captivating trainer May Carleton, and spots an opportunity to move up in the world. However there is another, more antagonistic figure lurking in the shadows.
Episode 4
Thursday 23 October 2014, 9pm
Arthur spearheads the Peaky Blinders’ ferocious takeover of London’s Eden Club.
But such tactics warrant Sabini to put old feuds to one side, and he convinces his old adversary Alfie Solomons to join forces and eradicate the Peaky Blinders.
Meanwhile, Tommy hires aristocratic May Carleton to train his race horse ‘Grace’s Secret’ and they quickly form a close bond. May lets her guard down for the first time in many years, but is Tommy simply using her as a passport to the higher realms of society? In Birmingham, Michael officially joins the family firm with an innocent desire to help Tommy’s businesses become more legitimate. However, he quickly gains first-hand experience of the harder side of being a Shelby.
Tommy’s anxieties are intensified when he discovers exactly what mission Major Campbell is forcing him to undertake. The next phase in Campbell’s plan is initiated and Tommy is required to be an unwilling puppet in a deadly political game. Suddenly the fearless Tommy Shelby is on the precipice of losing everything…
Episode 5
Thursday 30 October 2014, 9pm
The Peaky Blinders are under attack. Tommy’s power base in London is obliterated and both Arthur and Michael are arrested and imprisoned.
Major Campbell now has Tommy, and his family, under his thumb.
Distraught at the prospect of losing her son to a lengthy prison sentence, Polly compromises herself to secure Michael’s freedom. But her actions may damage their already fragile relationship for good.
As he takes extreme action to regain the upper hand, Tommy is paid a visit by someone from his past. Old wounds are sliced open and Tommy must make an impossible decision.
Episode 6
Thursday 6 November 2014, 9pm
Epsom, Derby Day. Tommy is there to execute the mission given to him by Major Campbell – the assassination of a high-ranking member of the military establishment.
But Tommy plans turn the situation to his advantage by bringing his gang to the racecourse and striking a blow at gang boss Sabini – a scheme that could take his organisation to another level.
Unbeknownst to Tommy, more than one of his adversaries have themselves forged secret plans – plans that could send him to his grave.
As the crowds assemble at the racecourse and Tommy readies his troops, he receives shocking news that will change everything.
> Buy the complete Season 1-2 boxset on Amazon.
Watch the launch trailer for Season 2…
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