Peaky Blinders could end after the fifth series writer Steven Knight reveals - Birmingham Live

Creator Steven Knight says he will probably write just 12 more episodes of the hit drama

Peaky Blinders could end after the fifth series, its creator Steven Knight has revealed.

The fourth series of the hit BBC2 drama set in Birmingham starts shooting in March and a fifth has already been commissioned – but that could be it.

So fans may have just 12 more episodes following the lives of the Shelby family, led by Cillian Murphy as Tommy.

That would mean there would have to be a major leap forward in time, as we left them in 1924 and Steven has said he wants to cover the General Strike of 1926 and then end it all at the outbreak of World War Two.

Birmingham writer Steven told Radio Times: “Never say never, but we feel that series five may be the last.

“We don’t know for sure. We will see how we feel about it. Peaky is one of those things everybody loves, and the response has been so magnificent on both sides of the Atlantic.

“I have got the end in my mind – whether that happens at the end of five is the question.

“I want it to end when the first air raid siren sounds in Birmingham.

“It is a story of a family between two world wars. It begins in 1919 when they have just come back from the war and the family’s journey is towards legitimacy and respectability and to leave their past behind.

“The big question of the whole series is this – is that possible?”

The fourth series is likely to be screened this autumn, with a fifth series probably arriving in early 2018.

It’s possible Steven could also make a film of the Peaky story.

He is also busy with his new BBC1 Saturday night drama Taboo, starring his Peaky colleague Tom Hardy.

And Steven would like to make up to three series of that dark period adventure, which continues this weekend at 9.15pm.