Peaky Blinders is a crime drama centred on a family of mixed Irish Traveller and Romani origins based in Birmingham, England, starting in 1919, several months after the end of the First World War.

[3][4] The first series concludes on 3 December 1919—"Black Star Day", the event where the Peaky Blinders plan to take over Billy Kimber's betting pitches at the Worcester Races.

The third series also features Father John Hughes (Paddy Considine), who is involved in an anti-communist organization; Ruben Oliver (Alexander Siddig), a painter whom Polly enlists to paint her portrait; Russian Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna (Gaite Jansen); and Linda Shelby (Kate Phillips), the new wife of Arthur.

The fourth series begins on Christmas Eve 1925, with the Peaky Blinders getting word that the New York Mafia, led by Luca Changretta (Adrien Brody), is coming to avenge the murder of his father, committed the previous series and ends following the general strike of May 1926, with Tommy using communist leader Jessie Eden for information and being elected as a Member of Parliament in 1927.

[5] On 11 January 2014, auditions were held in Digbeth area of Birmingham (near where parts of the series are set) for white and mixed race teenage male extras, resulting in lengthy queues.

[28] During 2020, rumours emerged linking comedian Rowan Atkinson to the show for the role of Adolf Hitler in series 6, but the producers denied the involvement saying that the news is "completely false".

David Renshaw of The Guardian summarised the series as a "riveting, fast-paced tale of post-first world war Birmingham gangsters", praising Murphy as the "ever-so-cool Tommy Shelby" and the rest of the cast for their "powerful performances".

[39] Alex Fletcher from Digital Spy believes that "Peaky Blinders has started as sharp as a dart",[40] while Den of Geek called the series "the most intelligent, stylish and engrossing BBC drama in ages".

[41] Cult TV Times critic Hugh David said the show "warrants the billing" by "managing to tick several ratings boxes – period drama, gangster epic, film star leads – yet go against the grain of those in the most interesting of ways".

[42] The show has been particularly celebrated for its stylish cinematography and charismatic performances, as well as for casting an eye over a part of England and English history rarely explored on television.

[43] Historians have been divided over whether bringing characters and events from other decades into a 1920s story undermines claims to historical accuracy, or whether working-class life in the period is nevertheless depicted in a truthful and resonant way.

"[48] On 2 March 2016, Knight told the Crime Scene Quarterly "I've had unsolicited communication from Michael Mann, the film director, from Dennis Lehane, Snoop Dogg – he's such a fan.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Peaky Blinders' sixth series gracefully addresses the untimely passing of star Helen McCrory while setting the stage for a fitting climax to this epic saga of likable scalawags.

It is surely the conceit that Tommy Shelby, the gangster villain-hero of the series, could ever convince a woman like Eden to be wined and dined, let alone be seduced, that finally reveals the true motives of the creators of the programme.

[57] At a round table event featuring Stevenson, the poet Dave Puller, and cultural historian Paul Long, the three discussed the series and its depictions of the British working class.

Puller had mixed feelings and was disappointed that the show chose to focus on Jessie Eden's fictional romance with Tommy, rather than her real achievements as a communist and a trade union leader.

"The legendary National Guard unit "Peaky Blinders" from Kharkiv now has actual caps from Stephen Knight, the scriptwriter of the cult series of the same name, with the autograph of the main character, Cillian Murphy"[86].

In August 2020, a video game based on the television series, titled Peaky Blinders: Mastermind, was developed by FuturLab and released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and for PC via Steam.

[87][88] A virtual reality game, Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom, was developed by Maze Theory and released for Meta Quest 2 and PICO 4 on 9 March 2023.