The Peaky Blinders are coming back. And this time, they’re filming in Birmingham
The Peaky Blinders are coming back. And this time, they’re filming in Birmingham
Plus: The bonkers career trajectory of disgraced surgeon who signed his patients' livers
Good afternoon Patchers — welcome to your Monday briefing.
What a cracking response we had to our weekend read about the ‘phantom tower’ of Station Street. Jack Walton unearthed more about the mysterious plans proposed for the road that’s home to the Electric cinema and the Crown than we’ve seen published anywhere else. Moreover, we caught the developer behind the tower plans being a little less than truthful about their ambitions, shall we say.
Richard Gray said it was “excellent”, Tony Rabiotti called it “superb” and Roz Law said: “This is the kind of reporting I subscribed for!” Thanks for reading it everyone and for letting us know your thoughts. If you haven’t had a chance yet, click below to find out what you’ve been missing. And share your thoughts down in the comments too.
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Weather
🌧️ Tuesday: The first rainy day in what is set to be a damp, monotonous week of weather. Light rain and a soft breeze. Max 11°C.
🌧️ Wednesday: More of the same. Light rain and breeze all day. Max 9°C.
🌦️ Thursday: According to the BBC, the sun will attempt to filter through the clouds from lunchtime onwards. Otherwise, drizzle and a breeze. Max 11°C.
🌥️ Friday: A drier start with some attempt from the sun to shine but, ultimately, more showers and clouds. Max 12°C.
🌦️ Weekend: A slightly better weekend with on-off sunshine between the ongoing showers. Misty dawns on both days. Max 15°C.
We get our weather from the Met Office and the BBC.
Big story: The Peaky Blinders are coming back. And this time, they’re filming in Birmingham.
Top line: Cillian Murphy has confirmed he will star in the Peaky Blinders movie. And unlike much of the series, the film will be shot locally. Filming begins in Steven Knight’s Digbeth Loc studios in September — a landmark moment for the region’s film industry which appears to be on the cusp of huge growth.
What’s it all about? Knight hasn’t revealed much about the plot but he has said it will tell two stories. He told Esquire in 2022 that the “new generation” of characters in the sixth and final series would be crucial to what happens in the film. While the TV show covered the period between 1919 and 1933, the film’s narrative jumps forward a few years to WWII.
A home from home: Despite Knight expressing a desire to film in Brum, much of the series was filmed in Liverpool, Manchester and even parts of Yorkshire. Tommy Shelby is introduced in the first episode of series one on horseback, entering Watery Lane in Small Heath and looking very moody. But the scene was actually filmed in Toxteth in Liverpool. To some, it was a shame just how little of the series was filmed here, given the role it’s played in boosting the Brummie name. As the series went on, more of it was shot in the second city (which is us, not Manchester!).
Losing to Leeds: Back in 2018, Birmingham lost out to Leeds when it bid to become the location of Channel 4’s new HQ because the region’s infrastructure wasn’t “mature” enough to support the industry. In his keynote speech at the British Screen Forum in London last July, Andy Street said: “With the benefit of hindsight I think they’re probably right.” He described it as a “wake up call” that triggered a commitment to “content production” as a key driver in the West Midlands’ economic development. Digbeth was chosen to be the centre of this burgeoning sub-sector.
Putting Birmingham on the movie-making map: Since the Channel 4 blow, several big strides forward have been made:
Steven Knight founded Digbeth Loc, where Masterchef will be produced from later this year
Joe Lycett’s prime time chat show, Late Night Lycett, is filmed at The Bond next door (and it offers paid production traineeships for people from all backgrounds across the West Midlands)
Finally, the region’s BBC HQ is set to take up its new, state-of-the-art residence in the old Typhoo Tea Factory in Digbeth
There has been the odd hiccup: The BBC HQ was supposed to open in 2026 but this has been pushed back a year. BBC Nations director Rhodri Talfan Davies said in December this was due to “additional planning work” and a “squeeze on the licence fee”. Construction began last month.
Turbocharging the sector: Create Central is a network of TV, film, games and other content makers in the region set up to “turbo charge the West Midlands creative content sector”. It works closely with the West Midlands Combined Authority and other public sector organisations and one of its aims is to increase opportunities for employment in production in the West Midlands — it was recently awarded funds by the British Film Institute to do just that.
Bottom line: Whether you’re a fan or not, Peaky Blinders is recognised around the globe — it’s often the first thing people think of when they think about Birmingham. So it’s unfortunate that we didn’t have the infrastructure to support filming much of the series. Because of huge strides made in the last few years, Birmingham is now well-equipped to produce one of its most successful exports — a clear marker of progress in the sector and good news for the region.
Photo of the week
This photo of Blackroot Pool in Sutton Park was sent in by Birmingham’s councillor for Sutton Roughley, Ewan Mackey. The picture illustrates a slice of Brum history: Blackroot Pool was created in 1759 to provide water to power a mill for processing leather. It later became a saw mill used for timber to make gates, fences and other necessities for the park. It also just looks very lovely — especially here.
Brum in brief
Council’s £760m equal pay bill ‘not real’: The equal pay bill figure behind the council’s fire sale of assets, job cuts, cuts to services and council tax rises is ‘not real’, according to the government commissioner parachuted in to oversee council affairs. Max Caller said the £760m figure is part of an accounting procedure and the final figure could be much lower. Concerns about the validity of this figure have been rife since last June but unions, councillors, and the media have been stonewalled over answers so far. More here as this case unravels.
Brum uni graduates in-demand: Students and graduates at the University of Birmingham will be heartened to hear that theirs is the university most targeted by the country’s leading employers. According to graduate market data, businesses from the The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list give the most attention to the Selly Oak-based institution. It beats off competition from Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds. Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Birmingham, was understandably chuffed: “[This] is a testament to the breadth and quality of the education we provide.”
‘6000 job’ factory for West Mids: Britain’s biggest ever gigafactory (these are battery-building behemoths for electric cars dreamed up by Elon Musk) is on the cusp of arriving in Coventry. The move would create 6000 jobs and thousands more in a local supply chain. EVE Energy, the Chinese firm behind the move, is considering a £1.2 billion investment, having been offered subsidies by the UK government (EU countries and the US are also keen to attract the investment). While details have been kept under wraps in negotiations, customers are apparently already lined up for the batteries the factory would produce. More here.
Home of the week
This Grade-II listed, four-bedroom, city centre townhouse dates back to 1870. Its first known occupants were a bucklemaker and jewellery manufacturer. Its next ones could be, well, whatever you do for a living (that’s as long as you’ve got a spare £675,000 down the back of the sofa).
Media picks
📰 This bonkers long read about the exploits of disgraced surgeon Simon Bramhall tracks his fall and tentative comeback after being struck off for branding a patient’s liver with his own initials during a transplant operation at Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 2013. These days, Bramhall is co-writing books with a former patient, based on his experiences working in the NHS. The latest, Letterman, is about the fateful liver-signing incident. This piece unpicks the differing views on Bramhall: those who think what he did was horrific and those who venerate him and condemn the fact his expertise is no longer available to the public.
📰 It’s not often The Sunday Times comes to Birmingham unfortunately— but at least when they do they cover the stuff that matters. Here, journalist Harry Wollop spends 24-hours in the Briar Rose branch of Wetherspoons in the city centre, in a bid to find out why the chain of boozers is so popular (or at least that’s what he tells himself — it’s journalism, guys, honest). Seriously though, it’s a highly entertaining read, if a bit like the diary of an anthropologist exploring an unknown territory.
💻 Dazed and Confused magazine has amplified four Birmingham artists in the wake of the 100% council funding cuts to the creative sector. Included is photographer Connor Pope, who has also contributed work to The Dispatch (which is how you know he’s great). Pope says he “[feels] a lot of disappointment with the council,” but he has found a silver lining amidst the gloom: “There are other areas of funding, and the sense of community is really strong here.”
Things to do
Tuesday
😆For those who want to take the edge off this week’s rain, John Bright Street’s The Victoria is hosting a stand-up comedy night in their upstairs function room. Promising four top comedians from across the UK, the show won’t cost a penny. Reserve here.
📖Are you a budding poet or a writer in need of an audience? Or do you just need an excuse to get out of the house on Tuesday and listen to others perform? (in the homely Kings Heath’s Kitchen Garden Café, no less) Overcoat has you covered. More details via their instagram page.
Wednesday
📜Mock the Week star Alasdair Beckett-King brings his ‘swirling maelstrom’ of jokes to Birmingham’s The Old Rep, starting from the 27th. Described as both a trip through time and humour, Stewart Lee has even given the show his stamp of approval. Book via link.
🔦Something a little different: The Ludic Rooms in Coventry are putting on an interactive light projection show in Coventry Canal Basin. There’s new artwork, old work, drinks and good vibes in the Coal Vaults next door. More information here.
Thursday
🐰With Easter fast approaching, the folk at the Lapworth Museum on the University of Birmingham campus have designed two separate dinosaur egg hunts that will take attendees on a learning adventure, too. Click for details.
🎤Here’s a chance to end this (graciously) short working week with four mini-operas at Eastside projects. These tiny operas focus on the impact of Brum’s financial crisis, the experience of Black women, education and violence, and love. Tickets start from £6.
There doesn't seem to be a link to the story about the Briar Rose.
I thought that University of Birmingham is in Edgbaston (even though many of its students may live in Selly Oak - but that’s another story for another day)!