Steven Knight Discusses His New Project 'This Town' And The Upcoming 'Peaky Blinders' Movie

TV & Film

May 2

As the BBC drama series This Town reached its conclusion on April 28, show creator Steven Knight sat down with NME to discuss the series and other projects. This Town is set in the 1980s and takes inspiration from ska and two-tone music. According to Knight, “In Coventry, lots of people were suddenly listening to ska music. And then people started making their own versions of it…It was just a strange thing that happened in that location at that time, and I just thought it would be great to tell a story with that as the background.”

Knight said that as a kid, he was exposed to a wide variety of music, everything from folk to blues to country as well as The Beatles. Knight was glad that “Many Rivers to the Cross” made it into the show. He said, “It’s a beautiful tune but the words are so sad…I am drawn to those melancholic melodies that also have a real drive to them.” Knight also confirmed that the title is a reference to “Ghost Town” by The Specials.

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Peaky Blinders poster — Image Source: GameSpot

Switching gears to a movie based on the Peaky Blinders series, Knight said that shooting would start in September with Cillian Murphy as the lead. Knight said, “I’m just doing the final polishes, which will continue up until the day before we start shooting. But we’re there. We’ve got everything sorted, we’ve got all the commitments we need, we are ready to go. I think the film is gonna be a step up again, and it’s gonna be great that Peaky fans can meet in one place and watch it. The budget will be bigger, but also because we know we’re ending this chapter, we’re all going to try to do our best.

When asked about his star’s recent Oscar, Knight replied, “I’m so pleased for him because he deserves it. After every award that he won, he would text and say, ‘I really can’t wait to be doing Peaky.’” The response from Murphy seemed to match Knight’s excitement for the show. Knight expressed that he hoped audiences would be “shocked and delighted and horrified and then delighted again and then shocked again” while viewing the film. Knight is also dipping his toes into the Star Wars universe with Rey’s next adventure in New Jedi Order. All episodes of This Town are currently available on BBC One.

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