Movies & TV

The Ultimate Peaky Blinders Seasons One - Four Recap

SPIN 1038

08:00 22 Aug 2019

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Peaky Blinders is back

After just under two years of waiting, Peaky Blinders returns this weekend.

Season 5 episode 1 will premier on Sunday 25th August, with episode 2 airing the following night.

A lot has happened in the first four seasons of the hit show.

So we thought we'd put together the ultimate catch up to have you ready for the Shelby's return!

Season 1

It's 1919 in Birmingham when we meet Tommy and the Shelby family.

They're a family of illegal bookmakers who have accidentally stolen some guns.

Here's what goes down:

- Tommy starts a feud with Billy Kimber and a gypsy family called The Lees
- Under Churchill's orders Grace and Inspector Campbell arrive in Birmingham to find the guns
- Ada Shelby falls pregnant with Freddie Thorne and they marry
- Tommy fakes the death of Peaky Blinder Danny and sends him to London
- Grace and Tommy team up to kill members of the IRA who are also hunting for the guns
- Tommy pits The Lees and The Kimbers against each other
- The Shelby's acquire a betting license and legitimise the family business
- Tommy call a truces with The Lees so they can team up agaisnt Billy Kimber
- In return he has his brother John marry Esme Lee
- Ada goes into labour during the wedding
- Danny is killed during a shoot out with The Kimbers
- Grace falls for Tommy and resigns as a police officer, but not before telling Campbell where the guns are
- Inspector Campbell proposes to Grace but she declines
- When leaving for London with Tommy, Campbell turns up and fires a shot at Grace.

Season 2

Season 2 opens with Freddie's funeral, he has died of the Spanish Flu.

While The Shelby's commemorate their local pub The Garrison is blown up.

Here's what happened next:

- Grace shoots Campbell, however he doesn't die and returns to Birmingham as a major.
- The IRA hire Tommy to murder a man
- Campbell learns of this and blackmails Tommy into working for Churchhill
- Tommy tracks down Polly's son Michael and they are reunited
- The Shelby's start at feud with London-based gangster Sabini
- Tommy meets with Alfie Solomons in an attempt to protect his family from Sabini
- We meet May Carleton who is hired to train Tommy's horse
- John and Arthur burn down The Garrison after the owner disrespects The Shelby name
- Alfie and Sabini team up to murder Arthur's men and have him sent to prison
- Michael is arrested and Polly sleeps with Campbell to have him released
- Grace is married in London, but returns to Tommy and reveals she's pregnant
- On Derby Day Tommy has his men burn the licences of Sabini's bookies and steal the bets
- Michael wants to join the family business
- Polly shoots Major Campbell
- Tommy is brought to a field and told to expect further contact from Winston Churchill

Season 3

It's 1924 and Tommy and Grace are married, but the celebrations don't last long.

Here's what happened in season 3:

Anton Kaledin, a refugee from Russia, makes contact with the Peaky Blinders
He provides them with an incorrect code name for a money exchange and Arthur kills him
Mr. Romanov thanks Tommy for killing the impostor by giving him a sapphire
Father Hughes threatens to murder Grace and Tommy's son Charlie over Ada's communist connections
Arthur and John get in a fight with the Changretta family and Angel Changretta is brutally beaten
During the Shelby Charity Foundation dinner Grace is shot and killed by a man shouting, "For Angel"
Arthur, John and Finn beat the shooter to death
Tommy orders Arthur and John to kidnap Vicente Changretta and shoot his wife
Rather than torture Changretta, Arthur shoots him out of mercy
Arthur Sr. dies
Linda is pregnant and attempts to get Arthur to leave the gang
Tommy attempts to have Father Hughes murdered, but he learns of the plan
The Shelby's plan to double cross The Russians and rob their vault
Father Hughes kidnaps Tommy's son and blackmails him for his safe return
He must give him the stolen Russian jewels and blow up a train killing six people
Tommy figures out where Charlie is being held and sends Michael to retrieve him and kill Father Hughes
Arthur and John set off to carry out the train bombing in case Michael can't rescue Charlie in time
Michael is successful, but word doesn't reach Arthur in time and the train is blown up
Tommy learns that Alfie passed information Father Hughes
The Shelby's successfully break into the Russian vault
Grand Duchess Tatiana takes her share of the jewels and the rest is distributed between the Shelby family
When they meet to collect their loot the police arrive and they're all arrested

Season 4

The Shelby family are released from prison just before their planned hangings.

But there's no celebrating for Arthur, John, Michael and Polly who deal with their new reality by self medicating.

Here's what goes down in season 4:

Ada returns from Boston to a broken Shelby family
Each of the Shelbys receives a letter from Luca Changretta, a member of the Sicilian mafia
They've been marked for death in retribution for the murder of Angel and Vincente
John and Michael are shot multiple times on Christmas Day
The Shelbys are reunited in the wake of John's murder
Ada is under investigation by the government because of her marriage to a communist
Tommy teams up with killer-for-hire Aberama Gold
Gold agrees to fight for the Shelbys if they take on his son, Bonnie
Workers at Tommy's factory in Lanchester strike
Polly plots to betray Tommy to Changretta and sets up a fake meeting with him
When Tommy arrives he's caught up in a battle against Changretta and his men, killing three
Later when The Shelby's discuss the ambush it's revealed Tommy and Polly plotted it together
Changretta travels to London to team up with Alfie Solomon
Lizzie Stark falls pregnant with Tommy's baby
Arthur is shot and presumably killed at Bonnie's boxing match
During his funeral Changretta's wife proposes a truce
Changretta demans Tommy sign The Shelby family fortune over to him
However, Tommy has sent Michael to America to turn Changretta's men against him
A very much alive Arthur then shoots Luca dead
Tommy confronts Alfie for his betrayal, who reveals he did so knowing Tommy would track him down
Alfie has cancer and welcomes his murder
Tommy takes a holiday but soon grows bored
He double crosses Jessie Eden and acquires the names of her communist party contacts
Tommy uses this intel to become a Labour MP in Birmingham South.

Season 5

Season 5 begins in 1929 during the aftermath of a big financial crisis.

The official description reads:

'When Tommy Shelby MP is approached by a charismatic politician with a bold vision for Britain, he realises that his response will affect not just his family's future but that of the entire nation.'

'Opportunity and misfortune are everywhere.'