Peaky Blinders

Judging from the first and only episode that was made available for review, Peaky Blinders remains one of the most entertaining shows on the box.

Rest assured that the final series is a worthy testament to this outstanding actress [Helen McCrory, who died last spring], and the character she created.

The series remains impeccably stylish, with exquisite sets, eye-catching costumes, and some pretty highfalutin dialogue for a story about uneducated criminals. Another strength of Peaky Blinders is that it's managed to stay fresh from one season to the next.

Peaky Blinders’ array of complicated female characters has always been something that set the gangland drama apart, and both Rundle’s Ada and O’Keefe’s Lizzie get plenty of opportunities to shine as each wrestles with grief, rage, and the seemingly endless frustration of being forever bound to Tommy’s world. But the women are also given a chance to fully step into their own power in a way we haven’t really seen from either of them before.

Largely thrilling and satisfying six-part conclusion.

Steeped in blood, sopped in whiskey, and lit in brooding pools of yellow and gray, Peaky Blinders is mood TV escapism with a satisfying historical bent.

This was the Peaky Blinders we have fallen in love with over the past nine years – a dark, gloomy, tense, intricately planned (but never too complicated) show, full of exceptional performances and the underhand machinations of a loveable rogue gangster.

For its varied cast Peaky has never been a true ensemble performance, but now the other characters feel like minor moons around the strange and terrifying planet Tommy.

The clothes horse from nowhere is back where we want him to be: in all kinds of trouble.