Peaky Blinders mural unveiled in Digbeth as BAFTA-winning TV series comes to end

Timelapse of the Peaky Blinders mural in Digbeth being created

A mural to the BAFTA award-winning TV show Peaky Blinders has been unveiled in Digbeth. 

The final series of the Birmingham set period drama is due to air later this month. 

The story, by creator Stephen Knight, follows the notorious Shelby family’s rise to power, against the backdrop of working-class, post-First World War Birmingham. 

Celebrating the show, the mural stands at 12.71m high, near the Old Crown pub which is referenced in the show.

At the unveiling, Stephen Knight said: “People say, the show put Birmingham on the map but Birmingham was on the map anyway.

"Birmingham is a big grown-up city with, it's the home of the industrial revolution, the lunar men, all kinds of inventions. So, there's lots to celebrate."

He adds: "I think maybe what Peaky might have done is offer a kind of a hook so that people around the world, apparently when they say Birmingham, they say Peaky Blinders.

"So, if that's the case, that's great. But Birmingham was is and will be a major, powerful city."

The mural, which features the face of the lead character 'Thomas Shleby', played by Cillian Murphy, took the street artist 'Akse' 7 days to create. 

Commenting on the mural's likeness to the character, Mr. Knight continued: "It is fantastic, I don't know how they do it, I'm really impressed. It's identical, that's the magic of it."

The show is expected to be made into a film in the coming years but the final TV series begins Sunday 27 February at 9pm on BBC One.