Peaky Blinders wins BAFTA TV award
By Ryan Stuver
The Peaky Blinders success continues as the show brings home its first BAFTA TV award
Long overdue I’d say, but Peaky Blinders won its first BAFTA (British Academy Television Awards) for best drama. The British crime drama beat out The Crown, Line of Duty, and The End of the Fxxking World.
This came as a surprise, as The Crown (available on Netflix), was a favorite to win. Creator of Peaky, Steven Knight, didn’t expect the upset victory, let alone even know that the show won.
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“That’s great, fantastic news!” Knight told Deadline in an interview, “I genuinely did not know.”
And while Knight and producer Caryn Manderbach were thrilled that Peaky Blinders won its first BAFTA award, Knight wanted the majority of the credit to go to the show’s actors.
"“Peaky Blinders has become a phenomenon that has entered the culture in so many places. I’m so glad that this has been recognized but Cillian, Helen, and Paul deserve to be recognized too.”"
Although the actors didn’t take home any awards, they haven’t always been snubbed in the past. Cillian Murphy won best actor at the IFTA’s for his role as Tommy Shelby, leader of the Birmingham crime family.
This comes after Peaky’s most recent and successful fourth season, which drew 2.3 viewers in the UK alone. It was also BBC’s top drama in 2017.
This is all encouraging news as the show moves into its fifth season. It was recently confirmed that Peaky Blinders will see at least a season 6 and possibly a season 7. That isn’t all of the recent Peaky news. Knight has also been in talks with the British contemporary ballet company about creating a ballet based on the show. Talk of a Peaky Blinders movie is also in the works.
Next: By order of the Peaky Blinders: two more seasons confirmed?
As the show continues to gain viewers and rise in popularity, Peaky Blinders and its brilliant cast of actors, writers, and producers, should be seeing more nominations in the future. This may just be the first BAFTA award of many.