Warning: contains a spoiler forSpooksseries 7.
Both of those things.
That is part of what I wanted to saturate it in.
Thats reflected in the different things weve done this series.
The violence, I think, is more real-feeling, this year.
If you know what your emotional themes are, then everything comes out of that.
Did you have that sort of Greek mythical tragedy in mind?
Thats a really interesting way of thinking about it.
The Midas thing is exactly that theme Im talking about.
I havent thought about Midas, but it is a really good reference.
In episode one, Tommys even referred to as a devil.
Was that symbolism deliberate?
The use of flames in the first episode is very deliberate.
The first time that we see The Garrison, we have this huge fireball.
The next time we go there, Tommy is there and hes got a flame whooshing behind him.
Absolutely, theres definitely a sense of hell.
We didnt think anyone would notice that!
Its whats so exciting and different about it, because myth is always what excites me about a story.
Tommy doesnt get on a horse this year, and thats commented on in the series.
I take it you watch contemporary stuff?
I watch all sorts of stuff, but I definitely love those films that are an influence on him.
David Fincher whos probably my favourite working director his films are massively influenced by the cinema of the seventies.
Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy are known to give pretty intense performances.
What was your approach to getting those characters on the screen?
That must have given you a lot of different options to work with?
Yes, the difficult thing is the time factor.
On a film, you get a lot of time to edit and on this it was tough.
Its got to be an hour long, it cant be any longer.
Theres a lot of interesting work being done in television now.
Oh, that was fun.
The Eden Club in general was fun.
I think a lot of 1920s clubs and joints in TV shows in general are shown as really clean.
It was like all bets were off.
Youre no stranger to the action in a scene like that of course.
You were the man who had Matt Smith riding a motorbike up the Shard!
[inDoctor Whoepisode,The Bells Of St. John].
[Laughs] That was fun.
That was a fun day filming.
Matt is such a lovely guy and a really great actor, and it was a lot of fun.
I like a bit of all that, its good fun.
Did Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman give you plenty to work with in that scene?
Yeah, theres a whole load of the stag do thats on the cutting room floor.
I dont know if theyre going to release it on DVD.
Theres a lot of fan-pressure to.
It is really funny, theres some really funny stuff.
The best thing nowadays about working in telly is that youre working with movie stars.
Benedict and Martin and Tom and Cillian and Richard Armitage fromSpooks, whos now inThe Hobbitand all these people.
Have you spoken to Steven about coming back for series three ofPeaky Blinders?
Its quite fun having a little peek over the fence though!
Would you return to the worlds ofDoctor WhoandSherlock?
As a director, you want to work with great writers.
I dont mind that.
Theyre writing in a way that other people in this country arent.
Steven Knight and Steven Moffat are very, very different writers.
Id love to do more.
[laughs]
In both yourWhoandSherlockepisodes, the women characters Mary inSherlockand Clara inWho were enigmas at that point.
Did you know the resolution to Jennas character when you were makingThe Bells Of St John?
[Laughing] I dont think Steven Moffat knew the resolution to her character then!
But we had some ideas and Steven shared a bit with me about what he was thinking.
Obviously there were clues about Amandas character, there were clues planted inSherlock.
The telegram from C.A.M., yeah.
There are also clues to what may come in the future ofPeaky Blindersthat weve planted this year.
I love hiding stuff in plain sight.
Where should we be looking in this series ofPeaky Blindersfor clues to the future, then?
Its interesting that you talk about the female characters.
A lot of the most interesting long-running stories will come out of them and their relationship with Tommy.
Tommys a very Alpha-male character but hes hugely defined by his relationships with women.
Peaky Blinders starts tonight, Thursday the 2ndof October, at 9pm on BBC Two.
