Dave Woodhall looks up from the screen to give his verdict on new BBC drama Peaky Blinders.
After all the hype we finally got to see Peaky Blinders. Well, was it worth the £18 million the series cost to produce? And will it mean the world will begin to see Birmingham in a new light?
The answers are definitely, and probably not.
It’s well-written, the camerawork at times is stunning and there’s a credible storyline based on the immediate aftermath of the First World War, when the old order was changing and the authorities were worried about the twin but (to them) equally dangerous menaces of Communism and the return home of hundreds of thousands of men from the front, all expecting a hero’s welcome, or at least work and a sense of gratitude. They were trained to kill, many were irrevocably damaged by what they’d witnessed during the four years of conflict and nobody knew how many weapons they’d brought back with them. Little wonder that the police were terrified of what might be around every corner.
Enter Inspector Chester Campbell (Sam Neill – they can get an Irish actor to play an Irishman, but obviously no Brummies have ever graduated from drama school), who has just spent four years chasing the IRA out of Belfast, and so not unnaturally sees the job of cleaning up Birmingham to be a doddle in comparison. Not so, according to returning gang boss Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and matriarchal Aunt Polly (Helen McCrory). The scene is therefore set for six weeks of wallowing in nostalgia or sneering at every fault in the plot, depending on whether you read the Birmingham Mail or the Guardian.
It veers towards cliché at times and the accents are already a subject of much controversy. The series’ creator Stephen Knight claims that it’s how we all talked ninety years ago and while he’s taken expert advice they’re still closer to the stereotype than voices you’ll hear walking through the city nowadays. It’s not Boardwalk Empire or Downton Abbey. It won’t make Birmingham glamorous nor fashionable for even 15 minutes. In fact, I suspect that once the novelty wears off ratings will fall everywhere outside a twenty mile radius of the Bull Ring.
But, and here’s the main thing, local people like it. Immediate reactions were almost overwhelmingly positive and against that, what do a few arty critics matter? It’s something we can take pride in, despite its faults, and this city works best when we love what’s ours, dodgy accents and all, and ignore the rest of the world.
