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Peaky Blinders - A world away from Downton!

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Ray Barrett said:
The peaky blinders were never organised gangsters.They were young blokes who returned from the horrors of WW11 desensitized,to whom violence was a way of life,and having no jobs just drifted into street fighting.Did know a couple of old blokes who said they had been peaky blinders,I had no reason to doubt their word,especially as one would often show of the scars from the cat-o-nine-tails...part of his punishment in the green.However,the T.V.series is very good drama,did have a laugh in the first 5 mins of the first episode...when we saw a Rastafarian ...they were not formed until 1930.
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hi ya ray hope you doing ok...i know it was only a slip but i think you meant to put WW1 not 2...any road up i have a friend whos uncle was a peaky and he is mentioned in one of carls chinns dvds...used to take his shirt off all the time in the pubs and show off his scars from the cat o nine tails..pubs included the queens head farm st and down summer lane so for all we know he could have been one of the peakys you recall down that way..

lyn
 
Hello bab,Had the worst year of my life and am just starting to recover.Yes it was the lane or perhaps Farm St.spent a lot of time there in my youth.Thanks for spotting my deliberate mistake...liar liar yer bums on fire.
 
lol ray that verse took me back a bit....so pleased that you are on your way to recovery i have missed your postings...take care..you know what i always say...

lyn..x

 
Ray Barrett said:
The peaky blinders were never organised gangsters.They were young blokes who returned from the horrors of WW1. desensitized,to whom violence was a way of life,and having no jobs just drifted into street fighting.Did know a couple of old blokes who said they had been peaky blinders,I had no reason to doubt their word,especially as one would often show of the scars from the cat-o-nine-tails...part of his punishment in the green.However,the T.V.series is very good drama,did have a laugh in the first 5 mins of the first episode...when we saw a Rastafarian ...they were not formed until 1930.
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That's how I imagined them from what I heard when I was growing up in Winson Green - just a rough lot of blokes from Aston - much to rough for us to mix with. BTW, I read the war error as being World War Eleven!!!
 
Benjamin Zephaniah (?).... and interesting fact > - Dreadlocks been around a very long time before 1900's. So possible and interesting.

Downton - haven't seen it yet - but does not TV refect life ? sometimes times it is a tough one, of course.
 
I may be wrong, but I do not remember the episode mentioning Rastafarians. It is quite right that Rastafarians started in the 30s, but that does not mean the style of dress originated then - i do not know myself
 
Mike - I think it was in last weeks episode - where Tommy (boss peaky) was walking up the road (with the forge's) - he's caught up by a man with dreadlocks, who is then sent away on an errand - I guess our "dread man" was one of the peaky runners - I dont think he was referred to as a "rasta" in the prog - it was in this thread he was called a rasta (just due to his dreds). Just to put the record straight. Ste.

Thanks for the link Judy.

I pass Small Heath most nights and its interesting to be close to where their base was.
Even if it is using some artistic licence ... all the characters are still compelling in my book :-)
 
Don't want it to end and I am afraid it will end in tears but whose?

Please let Thomas be OK, LOL.

Very, very, sad in parts last night , what a ******* the father was.
 
Another good episode. I think one of the family might get killed - bit unrealistic if they don't. I think the only reason they would kill off Thomas or his Aunt is if they don't want to sign for a second series. The barmaid might die protecting Thomas - that would justify him coming back even meaner in series 2. We will just have to wait and see - impatiently of course!
 
I missed the television programmes, so have spent 5 hours this weekend catching up on iplayer, mainly due to the comments on this thread. My Aunt lived in Garrison Lane until about the late sixties and I remember her house well, as I stayed with her on a number of occasions, so I feel a connection. Her parents in law lived there before her, so could have been there in the twenties. I think this is a brilliant drama, have fallen for Tommy, Cillian plays a superb part. Personally, I'm not concerned about the historical content and accept it for what it is, a well written drama. Love the fact that I recognise lots of Brummy places I remember, but PLEASE don't kill Tommy.
 
We will find out tonight. You do get the feeling someones going to get it - my money is on the bar maid (probably in error as you said).
On the website it says '''Freddie is being moved to Brixton prison and the Peaky Blinders prepare to fight for the last time".

I felt sorry for his rough brother (Arthur) last week with the attempted suicide - so glad that cord broke - hes a great character. That Inspector Campbell is a mean git tho. Hope there is a series 2 and hope Nick Caves eclectic music's still there too.
 
Well, what an ending, but what poetic licence because the real Billy Kimber didn't die before 1930 at the earliest

I heard the announcer say that Series 1 was on video which I take to mean there will be a Series 2.
 
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Alberta said:
Well, what an ending, but what poetic licence because the real Billy Kimber didn't die before 1930 at the earliest

I heard the announcer say that Series 1 was on video which I take to mean there will be a Series 2.
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Steven knight (the writer) confirms that he is writing series two and it starts in 1922, found this on denofgeek.com where they interview him.
 
I thought that Paul Anderson (Arthur) looked really authentic for the time and place. He could have stepped straight out of family photos I've got from that era! I think the moustache helped, also something about the shape of his face.

And yes, the ending was ambiguous. Intriguing!
 
I thought it was brilliant I was on the edge of my seat all night! It had a rocky start for some as they thought it would be historically correct. It is a drama loosley based on people of the time, as we know the "real" peaky blinders were gone before the first world war. There was a good interview with the writer and Cillan Murphy which explained a lot. He did go to the Garrison Pub with a tape recorder ha ha. I thought he did well with his accent as he is Irish... I can't wait for the next one!
 
I thought it was brilliant too. I enjoyed it from the first episode and knew that I would enjoy it even more as the weeks went by and the characters became more familiar to me.
With programmes like this I can usually guess what is going to happen next but this one was full of surprises all the way through - and it has left us guessing what happened at the end. I can't wait for the next series - I just hope it as good as this one has been. Also I hope it is still set in Birmingham and not New York.......?
 
Hi there I thought that you would like to know that our local radio station - ( Wave 105 it serves the south coast almost as far as the M4 and covers Isle of Wight, Hampshire, etc ) on the breakfast show the presenters were raving on how brilliant Peaky Blinders had been and all agreed that they can`t wait for a second series. Interesting if that was possible.
 
Ended up loving it ..... But nit-picked in the beginning, proper brummie,....... They got this,that,them wrong but like everyone says it's not historically correct but got better with each episode, hurry up series two.
 
Wow .... Nice to know we have series 2 to look forward to.

Judging by the surprises so far in series 1 ... I guess that neither Tommy or Grace get it.
Might be a surprise in store for us ... like you I hope both these characters come thru to Series 2 and also the inspector even.
Although I really disliked him its great having a character involved to dislike.
 
My paternal grandmother was from the Small Heath area, she used the the term "the peaky binders will get you" if you were being naughty, the term was used much like the Bogey man. My mothers side of the family came from Aston and I never heard any mention of peaky blinders from them
 
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