Peaky Blinders - Gangs of Birmingham

An excellent period mafia saga based on traditional musical bangers, solid storylines and great performances, especially by Cillian Murphy, who becomes quite unforgettable. (17.04.2021)

The British version of Gangs of New York. It may lack the lavish production design and pompous sets of its US sibling, but it's still a well-paced crime drama with brilliant dialogue and cleverly written and well-developed characters for a much smaller budget. The stage is set for the next season. (21.11.2020)

Impressive production design, high-budget feel, period bangers, superbly written dialogue, a charmingly charismatic Murphy and a slightly Tarantino-like Sam Neill. Huge potential for the next episodes and impressive pulling of strings from the start. (15.11.2020)

Perfect rhythm, balanced leading characters, impressive locations and sets. So far, Peaky Blinders looks like a very focused gangster drama and hopefully it will continue to be so. (15.11.2020)

The long monologue passages do not feel sterile and stiff after some time; on the contrary, they form the basis for subsequent decisive shifts and steps forward. There’s a lot of talk, but with a lot of gusto, with Billy Kimber taking the imaginary crown. (18.11.2020)

Proper and precise building of a grounded, sordid and dramatic, actually in a way spy story. The last two episodes are set to be a real inferno. (18.11.2020)

The scene with the father is understandably one of the most memorable. A chilling experience that Arthur had to endure. (26.11.2020)

Very good, but it doesn’t beat the previous episode in terms of drama and the tightness of the story. It's a bit undermined by an unnecessarily expository script with twists and surprises the kind you usually see only in films with "super smart scripts". The surprises and coincidences were many and not very believable given the trends set in the beginning. (21.11.2020)

Season 2 grew together with the Shelby family. It’s bigger, flashier, more ambitious and even a little more stylish. The down-to-earth story of the British gypsy mobsters is so far more balanced and engaging than most other similarly styled series. (26.11.2020)

Not nearly as striking an opening as in the first season, but it makes up for it with an excellent and quite surprising ending. There’s more going on in the last few minutes than in the previous fifty. (22.11.2020)

Tom Hardy on scene is worth watching. He plays an irresistible oddball who will surely have a big impact on the entire story of Season 2. Although it’s not very important yet, the storyline of Polly and her son is emotionally strong. (22.11.2020)

A wordy episode with no major highlights, except maybe the last few minutes. Apart from an interesting auction scene and a fresh wind in the sails in the form of Polly's son, who has "smart eyes" and fits well into the concept of the family business, there is nothing too memorable. (22.11.2020)

A family episode about the right values and what is worth fighting for. A few brilliant dialogue passages are interspersed with stylish entrances to London's high society. (26.11.2020)

As expected, the twist comes right before the finale. Textbook delivery, fully functional, slightly expected. Still, the execution and pace of the story is on the top of all MAFIA series. (26.11.2020)

A superbly executed, fabulously paced mafia story with an excellent script, intensity and tension that could be cut with a knife. There are also two femmes fatales, moral dilemmas and a climactic finale. One of the best episodes, almost a full fledged film on its own right. (26.11.2020)

The Shelby family is clearly benefiting from being dealt higher cards and climbing up the food chain. The natural growth in technical quality thanks to the audience success of the previous episodes is a matter of course, and so the third season delivers a a truly great gangster drama, with a style by the standards of the series. It’ll be very interesting to see what happens next. (28.11.2020)

An impressive opening in the form of a wedding and business plans. It's clear that Shelby is moving up the food chain and it will be interesting to see how the writers handle the fact that the street gang is aiming at high politics and will have to deal with the real issues of the rich like money, power, influence, and not only who to beat up or whose pub to burn down. (28.11.2020)

The Russians, a priest, the Italians. There's gonna be a lot for the gypsy gang to deal with this time. The highlight of this episode is an unforgettable scene with an insult to a mafia boss for whom the viewer must have some sympathy. (28.11.2020)

A mournful episode and quite understandably so. The Russian noose tightens and everything is crowned with a nerve-wrecking scene in the harbour that is exemplarily emotional. (28.11.2020)

One of the darkest episodes. Priest's character in particular is brilliantly portrayed and becomes the ultimate counterpoint to everything the Shelby family has been building from the beginning of their story. Probably never has killing given such satisfaction as this time. (28.11.2020)