Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has revealed to fans which episodes they must tune into ahead of the release of the show’s sequel film, The Immortal Man.

The hit show formerly ran across 36 episodes over six series before it was announced it would return in movie format, with a spin-off series also in the works.

It’s been a long wait for fans of the franchise, with creator Steven first teasing the release of a film back in 2021, before it was confirmed last year.

Now, the film is just days away from its release on Netflix, and cinemas around the UK, with Cillian Murphy back for more as Thomas Shelby, nearly four years after its last season hit screens.

The Immortal Man, which will see Cillian as Tommy coming face-to-face with his son Erasmus ‘Duke’ Shelby, played by Barry Keoghan, launches on March 20 online, following its cinema release on March 6.

Set in Birmingham during World War Two, the star-studded cast will also feature Sophie Rundle, Stephen Graham, Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Roth.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has revealed to fans which episodes they MUST tune into ahead of the release of the show’s sequel film, The Immortal Man

Ahead of its release, screenwriter Steven has suggested which episodes fans should re-watch, or first-time viewers should tune into for the first time.

Among them is the first ever episode, which hit screens on the BBC back in 2013.

The trailer for The Immortal Man sees Ada telling Tommy that his son, Duke, is now leading the Peaky Blinders ‘like it’s 1919’ – when the show was first set.

Creator Steven told LadBible that the episode ‘lays out what the whole series is about’, and ‘introduces Tommy Shelby’ in a way that ‘makes it pretty unequivocal about who this person is.’

He added: ‘It really says so much about what Peaky is going to be about and the whole episode is essential to know exactly what this family is and what they do and why they’re so fearsome.’

Steven also suggested the finale episode in the second season, which sees Tommy forced to assassinate a high-level military official by Sam Neill’s Chester Campbell.

Containing one of his ‘favourite sequences of the series,’ the writer explained: ‘What that gives us is: Here is a man who is not sure if he wants to live or die… [in this moment] we can see that he actually chooses life.’

Meanwhile, the finale episode of series six is also on Steven’s list of recommendations – showcasing Tommy for the last time, riding away from his life in Birmingham.

Steven concluded: ‘The horse he rides away on is a white horse. The horse he arrived on at the beginning of the series was a black horse… he’s riding away to have a simpler life.’

It comes after Netflix dropped the first full trailer for their highly anticipated Peaky Blinders film, The Immortal Man, leaving viewers giddy with excitement for its release.

The film will pick up  four years after viewers last said goodbye to the Shelby clan in the series finale of Peaky Blinders.

Tommy, who has been played by Cillian, 49, since the show’s debut in 2013, will be driven back to Birmingham from his self-imposed exile in the movie.

The freshly dropped trailer sees the character living far away from home, living alone, when his past finally begins to catch up with him during World War II.

‘You’ll live in a house haunted with ghosts, of people who died because of you,’ a voiceover begins as Tommy is shown back on screen for the first time.

He’s then shown stood opposite new character, Rebecca Ferguson’s mysterious Kaulo, a new acquaintance to Cillian’s Tommy, as she tells him: ‘You abandoned your kingdom, and you abandoned your son.’

Sophie Rundle, who plays Tommy’s sister Ada Shelby in the drama, is then told telling the gangster: ‘Your gypsy son is running Peaky Blinders like its 1919 all over again.’

The Peaky Blinders group are then shown fighting off locals, before the camera draws close on Barry Keoghan, standing over a man with his cane holding him down – appearing to be Tommy’s illegitimate son, Erasmus ‘Duke’ Shelby.

‘I can’t help him, because I’m not that man anymore,’ Tommy tells Ada, as Barry’s character is seen being asked if he is prepared to commit ‘treason’, to win the war in Germany’s favour.

‘The world don’t give a f**k about me, and I don’t give a f**k about the world,’ the young Peaky Blinders gangster can then be heard saying.

Barry Keoghan, standing over a man with his cane holding him down – appears to be Tommy’s illegitimate son, Erasmus ‘Duke’ Shelby all grown up

When Stephen Graham’s Hayden Stagg tells Tommy that he thought ‘he’d decided it wasn’t his war’ to fight, Tommy menacingly replies: ‘It is now.’

Tommy is then seen back in his old haunt, met by unfamiliar faces who don’t know who he is, and asking for details on why he’s back.

Luckily for Tommy, Jordan Bolgar’s Isaiah Jesus, a young member of the Birmingham gang and the son of preacher Jeremiah Jesus, Tommy’s loyal lieutenant, is there to remind everyone.

A series of powerful explosions then follow, teasing the dramatic scenes to come, before Tommy concludes: ‘Once, I nearly got f**king everything… but nearly doesn’t count.’

The trailer ends with Tommy and Barry’s character taking a shot at the bar together as they look to be working together.

The synopsis teases the character will face his ‘most destructive reckoning yet’, adding: ‘With the future of the family and the country at stake, Tommy must face his own demons, and choose whether to confront his legacy, or burn it to the ground.

‘By order of the Peaky Blinders.’

Fans went wild over the trailer, taking to the comments section to dub the trailer ‘wild’ and ‘amazing’, with one admitting: ‘I just can’t wait!’

A series of powerful explosions then follow, teasing the dramatic scenes to come

It comes after the REAL people, rivalries and crimes within Birmingham’s Peaky Blinders were revealed in a look back at old newspaper clippings.

Die-hard fans of the series may know that the fictional characters and the series story are loosely based on a real gang members from Birmingham.

Creator Steven drew inspiration from stories his parents told him about real gangs that operated in the area much earlier than the show’s post World War I setting.

Now, genealogy site Ancestry has given a look behind the curtain about the real figures who inspired the hit series, delving into newspaper articles from the past on their site Newspapers.com.

Historical records reveal that the term ‘Peaky Blinders’ originally referred not to a single organised crime dynasty, but to a group of violent youths operating in Birmingham.

The newspapers used the label broadly, often applying it to anyone sporting the now-iconic flat-peaked caps associated with the gangs activity.

One of the most recognisable names from the series is William ‘Billy’ Kimber, portrayed on screen by Charlie Creed-Miles.

In reality, Kimber was a formidable figure long before television dramatised his life, the leader of the Birmingham Boys gang, and appears in official documents and newspapers throughout the early 20th century.

The trailer ends with Tommy and Barry’s character taking a shot at the bar together as they look to be working together

The newspapers used the label broadly, often applying it to anyone sporting the now-iconic flat-peaked caps associated with the gangs activity

In 1921, Kimber was recorded living in London with his partner, Cissie Kimber, and her family – and were unmarried until 1926, despite living together.

Just weeks before that 1921 census was taken, the Birmingham Gazette reported that Kimber had been injured in a fight with a rival gang.

Contrary to popular belief, the Peaky Blinders weren’t just women, and newspaper reports from the era identify women as active participants in gang activity.

Laura Annie Collins, born around 1863, was identified in newspapers as a Peaky Blinder alongside her husband, Alfred J. Worrall (alias John Collins).

In 1904, the Walsall Observer reported that she attacked a police constable with a hairpin during a trip to Bridgtown, Staffordshire.

Nearly a decade earlier, in 1895, Emma Rowlands appeared before a Birmingham court following an altercation.

The Birmingham Evening Mail described her striking a man in the eye with a belt, an act the prosecutor claimed was unprovoked, despite her insisting she acted in self-defence.

A headline from July 1895 labelled her ‘A Female ‘Peaky Blinder’.

Historical records reveal that the term ‘Peaky Blinders’ originally referred not to a single organised crime dynasty, but to a group of violent youths operating in Birmingham

The character of Alfie Solomons, was inspired by real Jewish gang leader Alfred Solomon

Elsewhere, in 1905, a split within the Peaky Blinders resulted in one member stabbing another.

Charles Henry Allbutt was seriously injured in the attack but survived, continuing to appear in criminal records until 1910.

Similarly, brothers William and James Brough, born in Birmingham in 1882 and 1884, were both associated with the Peaky Blinders.

In 1905, James was arrested after drunkenly attacking a police officer, and when William and a friend, Thomas Mullis, attempted to intervene, they too were detained, according to the Birmingham Evening Mail.

James Brough later served in the First World War. By 1921, he was no longer appearing in newspaper reports as a criminal.

Instead, he was working as a metal polisher and living in Birmingham with his wife, Emma, and their children.

The character of Alfie Solomons, played by Tom Hardy, was inspired by real Jewish gang leader Alfred Solomon.

Official records list him not as a crime boss but as a ‘fruiterer’ (fruit seller) and in 1921, he was living in Westminster and described by the same trade.

Tommy Shelby, who has been played by Cillian, 49, since the show’s debut in 2013, will be driven back to Birmingham from his self-imposed exile

But in 1924, Solomon was charged with the murder of bookmaker Barney Blitz at the Eden Social Club.

The Daily Mirror reported that he was sentenced to three years in prison.

Simon Pearce, Family History Expert at Ancestry, said: ‘Peaky Blinders has captivated audiences with its gritty stories of rivalry and gang loyalty on the streets of Birmingham.

‘Ancestry’s real-life discoveries show just how closely the city’s history aligns with the drama on screen and some lesser known facts about the infamous gang too.

‘From women actively involved in gang activity to men who served in the First World War, and others who reformed as respectable ‘fruiterers’, it’s a reminder that the most fascinating stories often lie hidden in our local and family histories, waiting to be uncovered.’

The Immortal Man airs on Netflix on March 6 and will be available in cinemas