Political Blackmail

Lore & Background

When the journalist Michael Levitt interviews Tommy with a view to damaging his image as an MP, Tommy outmanoeuvres him by threatening to expose Levitt's homosexuality; Levitt is later killed. Tommy also threatens Lord Suckerby, a High Court judge, for not paying the amount he was promised after the Peaky Blinders dealt with a pimp who had been blackmailing a member of the House of Lords. Oswald Mosley in turn uses his leverage over the investigation into Levitt's murder to coerce Tommy into joining the British Union of Fascists, and Tommy agrees in order to infiltrate it.

Reader's Guide

Blackmail in the series is a matter of particular deals rather than a system: it is used against Tommy in the second series and by and against him in the fifth.

Did You Know?

• The series features Winston Churchill, played by Andy Nyman in series 1 and Richard McCabe in series 2, who charges Major Chester Campbell with suppressing disorder in Birmingham.
• Tommy Shelby is elected as a Member of Parliament in 1927.
• The fifth series begins on 29 October 1929 (Black Tuesday) and ends on 7 December 1929, the morning after a rally led by Oswald Mosley.
• The sixth series begins on 5 December 1933, as prohibition is repealed in the United States and the Nazi Party has obtained power in Germany.
• Oswald Mosley, a fascist politician and leader of the British Union of Fascists, is played by Sam Claflin in series 5–6.