Peaky Blinders: 10 Episodes With Major Character Deaths

Peaky Blinders has captivated millions of fans the world over thanks to its riveting story and incredible production design. Created by Steven Knight, Peaky Blinders began airing on the BBC back in September 2013 and has since aired five seasons and thirty episodes.

The series concerns the so-called Peaky Blinders, a street gang out of Birmingham that operated throughout the early 20th century. The gang partook in numerous criminal activities, including extortion, fraud, murder, and robbery. As is often the case with stories of this kind, Peaky Blinders is rife with deaths. These are but a few.

10 Episode 1.6 – Danny Whizz-Bang

Episode 1.6 serves as the first season finale, and as is often the case with finales, it brings about a major character death. The character to go was Danny Whizz-Bang, real name Daniel Owen. Danny initially leaves Birmingham, leading everyone to think that he was dead. However, he later returns in order to break Freddie Thorne from jail. However, he is later killed during the shootout with Billy Kimber.

9 Episode 2.1 – Freddie Thorne

Speaking of Freddie Thorne, he goes out in a really bizarre way in the second season opener. Freddie is last seen in the season one closer fighting against Billy Kimber’s men. When season two opens, the Peaky Blinders are attending Freddie’s funeral. He dies off screen between seasons of “pestilence,” which is likely to be the Spanish Flu that ravaged the world between 1918 and 1920, killing upwards of fifty million people.

8 Episode 2.6 – Inspector Campbell

The second season finale contains another shocking death in Inspector Campbell. Campbell served as the primary antagonist throughout the first two seasons, played wonderfully by Sam Neill. Campbell hires The Red Right Hand to murder Shelby. While that obviously doesn’t’ happen, Polly corners Campbell in a phone booth and shoots him through the heart while he’s speaking to Winston Churchill. What a way to go.

7 Episode 3.2 – Grace Shelby

Grace Shelby begins the series as Grace Burgess, an undercover agent who infiltrated The Garrison. However, she quickly fell in love with Thomas Shelby, throwing the entire operation into question.

Grace eventually had Shelby’s child and they married in 1924. Hers is perhaps the most shocking death of the entire series, as she is shot at a party by an assassin working on orders from Vicente Changretta. Thomas (and the audience) was never the same after this.

6 Episode 3.3 – Vicente Changretta

Unsurprisingly, Changretta’s action directly cause his own downfall. The Peaky Blinders seek out Changretta in retaliation for Grace’s death, with Thomas planning to kill him slowly, painfully, and gruesomely. It speaks to Thomas’s twisted state of mind following the death of his new wife. However, Changretta is let off the hook (so to speak) when Arthur shoots him through the head, offering him a quick and painless death.

5 Episode 4.6 (The Company) – Luca Changretta

Violence only begets more violence. Such is a theme that Peaky Blinders often explores, especially through the character of Luca Changretta. Luca is Vicente’s son, and he seeks out retaliation against the Shelbys for their role in his father’s death. Fitting, considering the Shelbys were also seeking retaliation! Violence only begets violence. Luca is killed in the fourth season finale when a presumed-dead Arthur shoots him through the forehead.

4 Episode 4.2 (Heathens) – John Shelby

Violence begets violence. Arthur was the one to kill Luca Changretta because Luca was behind the killing of his younger brother, John. John receives what is called The Black Hand from the Changretta family, effectively marking him for death. John, Michael, and John’s wife Esme are ambushed by Changretta mobsters who open fire on them with automatic weapons.

Michael and Esme survive the ambush, but John goes down in a hail of bullets. Along with Grace, this is arguably the most shocking and monumental death of the entire series, and it proved that Peaky Blinders wasn’t afraid of killing off major members of the gang.

3 Episode 5.2 (Black Cats) – Bonnie Gold

Bonnie Gold is an aspiring boxer who forgoes his ambitions to join the Peaky Blinders. However, this decision proves to be his tragic downfall. Bonnie is killed in the second episode of season five when Glasgow’s Billy Boys come into the Gold campsite and shoot Aberama in the shoulder. Bonnie is viciously beaten while defending Aberama before being hung on a crucifix and shot by Jimmy McCavern.

2 Episode 5.5 (The Shock) – Ben Younger

The Shock is quite the shock indeed, as it disposed of Ben Younger. Younger was the head of the army intelligence officers who arrested Ada for her connections to Communism. He later strikes a deal with Thomas and begins working with the Peaky Blinders. Younger conspired with Shelby to take down Oswald Mosley and was killed in a car explosion for his efforts. Working with a violent criminal gang such as the Peaky Blinders is never a good idea.

1 Episode 5.6 (Mr Jones) – Aberama Gold

Aberama Gold is wonderfully portrayed by Aidan Gillen, making him one of the biggest names in the cast. However, this did not give him plot armor. Gold is a hitman for hire, and he was hired by Shelby to protect the Peaky Blinders from Luca Changretta. He begins to plot revenge against Jimmy McCavern after Jimmy kills Bonnie, but he is ambushed by McCavern’s men and stabbed to death.

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Nathan Sharp
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Nathan Sharp is a writer from outside Toronto, Ontario. He has a love of movies and television, having enjoyed them for more than twenty years. His preferences include drama, action, and horror, with the former being a particular point of interest and fascination.

He also has a love of video games, particularly those of Rockstar.

Whether it be about film, television, or video games, Nathan loves a good discussion and has written hundreds of articles for Screen Rant.

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