‘Peaky Blinders’ Adds Paddy Considine, International Intrigue & More As Season 3 Shoot Begins

The long-anticipated return of Peaky Blinders is approaching. Shooting starts Monday on the third season of the Steven Knight-created crime saga with new cast additions now set, and more revealed about what’s to come for Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby. Among the new cast members, Paddy Considine has joined as the representative of a force beyond anything Tommy has previously encountered.

paddy considine
paddy considine

Season 3 will see Tommy pulled into the glamorous and dangerous world of international intrigue in 1920s Britain, putting his entire organization and family at risk, and forcing him to question everything about his own ambitions and desires. Dina Korzun (Last Resort) and Jan Bijvoet (Cordon) are also joining the show as refugees from a foreign conflict who desperately need Tommy’s help.

Knight told me over the summer that he’d resolve the question of whether Tommy would end up with Grace or May in the season opener. We’ve now learned the debut episode will be set on Tommy’s wedding day. Today, Knight says, “I am genuinely thrilled at the prospect of Season Three. I think it will be the best yet. Lots of things familiar, but lots of things are new. It’s still a Birmingham story and it always will be. Now, it has international consequences. I can’t wait to see it myself.”

Murphy says, “It’s the sign of a great show when by the second or third season it’s richer than ever. The writing this year is the strongest it’s ever been. It’s off the charts.”

peaky blinders tom hardy
peaky blinders tom hardy

Knight previously also told me that actor Tom Hardy (Alfie Solomons) would be back for at least part of Season 3. Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, and Joe and Finn Cole are among some of those returning while further new and returning cast will be finalized shortly.

Belgian director Tim Mielants, whose series Cordon was recently remade in the U.S. as Containment, will direct all episodes and Simon Maloney makes his debut as producer.

Peaky Blinders airs on BBC Two in the UK and on Netflix in the States. No broadcast debut date has been set for Season 3, but it is expected to go out in early 2016. The gangster epic with a massive cult following is a Caryn Mandabach and Tiger Aspect Production for BBC Two; executive produced by Knight, Mandabach, Will Gould, Jamie Glazebrook, Frith Tiplady, Murphy and, for the BBC, Matthew Read.

Endemol Shine International has sold it in 163 countries.

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