Did you spot the animal motifs running through series 5?
The Peaky Blinders designers let us in on the show’s secrets.
Our aim is to create something visually stunning that people dont actually really notice.
An original 1920s design, the tiles are part of a visual motif that runs throughout series five.
Theres a little clip thats missing, says production designer Nicole Northridge.
The swan was the motif for Grace this year, she explains.
Grace is calling him home, saying.
Come and be with me.
We wanted it to represent something that was close to Tommy, says Northridge.
The stained glass is a connection to his regiment.
Though I dont think anybody clocked it!
Also incorporated into the stained glass design on the Tavern windows is a rising sun bursting with rays.
It was designed to contrast with the black horse that haunts Tommy through series five.
Hes a man who doesnt forget his roots, no matter how high he rises.
While these things stay on his desk, he is the guy you do not challenge.
This is Tommys, brought back from France and kept safe for fifteen years.
I hope that will always be part of his [set] dressing and always remain with him.
The swaggering Shelby family are peacocks, he means?
Its not quite spot the peacock but we did use that motif a lot!
Alfie is in purgatory effectively, says Nicole Northridge, hes in a state of stasis.
Hes hovering between life and death.
I wanted a sense of entrapment.
Even the paintings and pictures on the wall had a sense of decay.
It was a room that was once splendid and grand and now its really frayed.
That bag was full of oranges.
Theyre sort of buried under paper, says Mead.
Its so he cant escape his own mind, explains Northridge.
Its just confusion and chaos, which is why we wanted that layering of reflections going on for infinity.
Hes finally met the man he cant defeat or understand and its himself.
One is Golden Brown, a reference to the familys opium deal this series.
The Commons Chamber benches were repurposed for the gallery set where Ada watched Tommy give a parliamentary speech.
You go up a stage for Polly, says Mead, its always that bit more decorative and beautiful.
Arthurs reluctance to embrace change and modernity is reflected in his home.
Hes not about moving forward, says Mead.
He still wants to hold onto the Shelbys as they were.
The gold paint used in the show is called Peaky Gold and mixed by Bristol Paints.
Read ourspoiler-filled series five finale review.
And read about all thenew British dramas on their way.
