Who created the TV series Peaky Blinders?

Steven Knight created the television series Peaky Blinders. The British screenwriter drew on stories he heard from his parents about Birmingham gangs and used that inspiration to build a fictional crime saga set after the First World War.

Knight grew up in Birmingham, which helped shape the show’s sense of place and its focus on working-class communities, industrial streets, family loyalty, and social change. Although the series borrows the name of a real Birmingham gang, its central Shelby family and much of its criminal storyline are fictional. Knight combined this local historical atmosphere with invented characters and selected real figures from British history.

Knight also wrote many of the series’ episodes and remained closely involved in its development. He created Tommy Shelby as a former soldier whose ambition expands from local gambling operations into legitimate business, politics, and international power struggles. The series premiered in 2013 and ran for six television series, with Knight’s writing helping define its dark tone and distinctive period style.