Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has defended the show’s violent content, after one cast member suggested the upcoming fifth series borders on gratuitous.
In a new interview with Radio Times, Steven insisted that violence is par for the course given the subject matter he writes about on Peaky Blinders, but he also noted that he tries to show the “consequences of that violence”.
“It’s about gangsters so inevitably there are depictions of violence,” he explained.
“But I always try to show the consequences of that violence, rather than the characters dusting themselves off and they’re fine again.”
His comments come after actress Helen McCrory – who plays Polly Gray in the BBC drama – admitted there were parts of the upcoming series she struggled to watch.
Asked about the impending fifth series, Helen told recently claimed: “It is very violent and it’s really horrible and you should look away.”
She added: “I look away from the screen. I, as Helen, can’t watch it. I think it’s disgusting, gratuitous violence. It is… no, not gratuitous – disgustingly violent.
“But it is. And it should be. I think it’s much more disturbing than somebody slashes somebody’s face or somebody shoots somebody and it’s all just the end of it.”
The fifth series debuts on 25 August at 9pm, with the show making the jump to BBC One for the first time.
It was recently revealed that the show would deal with the rise of fascism in the Western world in the early 1930s, with Sam Claflin joining the cast as Sir Oswald Mosley.