DEADLINE – EXCLUSIVE: Season 5 of Steven Knight’s period crime saga Peaky Blinders has set a host of new cast, including Sam Claflin, Brian Gleeson and the previously announced Anya Taylor-Joy. The BAFTA winning drama that’s led by Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory and Paul Anderson is currently filming with the fifth go-round for the Shelby family expected to air in 2019, moving from its previous BBC Two home to BBC One.

Also new to the series are Neil Maskell (Happy New Year, In Darkness), Kate Dickie (The Cry, The Witch), Cosmo Jarvis (Calm With Horses, Lady Macbeth), Emmett J Scanlan (Butterfly, Safe), Elliot Cowan (The Spanish Princess), Charlene McKenna (Ripper Street), Andrew Koji (Warrior) and Daryl McCormack (A Very English Scandal). We do not yet have character descriptions.
This year’s big name additions follow on from Season 4 which included Adrien Brody and Game Of Thrones‘ Aidan Gillen.

Claflin recently starred in Baltasar Kormakur’s Adrift and is in Jennifer Kent’s Venice Film Festival award winner The Nightingale. Gleeson was last seen in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. Taylor-Joy recently appeared in BBC/Masterpiece mini The Miniaturist and has M Night Shyamalan’s Glass on deck.

Claflin says, “From Steven Knight’s writing to the consistently brilliant production, I couldn’t feel more privileged to be invited to join this iconic show.” Gleeson adds, “Looking forward to kicking around in the mud of Northern England with an exceptional cast and crew. The scripts are wild and pertinent — a classic Peaky brew.”

The new cast join the previously announced returning cast members Sophie Rundle, Finn Cole, Kate Phillips, Natasha O’Keeffe, Aidan Gillen, Jack Rowan, Charlie Murphy, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Harry Kirton, Packy Lee, Ned Dennehy, Ian Peck and Benjamin Zephaniah.

Season five finds the world thrown into turmoil by the financial crash of 1929. Opportunity and misfortune are everywhere. When Tommy Shelby MP (Murphy) is approached by a charismatic politician with a bold vision for Britain, he realizes that his response will affect not just his family’s future but that of the entire nation.

The fifth season is directed by Anthony Byrne and produced by Annie Harrison-Baxter. Peaky Blinders is produced by Caryn Mandabach Productions and Tiger Aspect Drama for BBC One; executive producers are Caryn Mandabach, Knight, Jamie Glazebrook, David Mason, Cillian Murphy, Patrick Spence and Tommy Bulfin.
The show is handled by Endemol Shine International, and has sold across 183 countries. It airs widely on Netflix internationally including in the U.S.

Claflin is repped by CAA and Independent Talent Group. Gleeson is with The Agency and Paradigm.