Stephen Knight, creator of the hit historical crime drama Peaky Blinders, has revealed how the show’s sixth season will deal with the death of actress Helen McCrory. McCrory, who is also known for her role as Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, was cast as the Shelby family matriarch Aunt Polly in the BBC drama, which first aired back in 2013. While it was the ambition of Polly’s nephew, Thomas “Tommy” Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy), that helped steer her family’s rapid ascent up the socio-economic ladder, it was Polly’s indomitable iron will and a sharp mind which ensured the family’s continued survival and steadfast loyalty.

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Sadly, McCrory died of breast cancer in April last year while she was still in the process of filming scenes for Peaky Blinders season 6. While it is not clear in what capacity McCrory will appear, if at all, in the show’s latest season, a recent trailer hinted at a traditional gypsy funeral for her character. Given the amount of influence Polly’s character held over her beloved family, fans of the show are keen to discover how her passing will impact the remaining members of the Shelby clan moving forward.

Now, just ahead of the Peaky Blinders’ season 6 UK premiere, Knight has spoken with Radio Times (via iNews) about McCrory’s continuing impact on the show. While fellow actress Sophie Rundle, who plays Polly’s niece Ada Shelby, said filming the show’s most recent season without McCrory “felt wrong,” Knight suggests that both McCrory and her character continued to have a strong impact on the season, saying “they’re gone but their opinion stays in the house.” Check out his full comments below:

I think it is like when anybody who has lost a member of their family – they’re gone but their opinion stays in the house.

In other words, when something happens you still think, ‘What would they have thought about this? What would their opinion have been of this?’ and I have tried to keep that with Polly so that the family still thinks, ‘What would Polly have done?’ which is what I think happens with people.

 

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While the death of Polly’s character will certainly be felt by her entire family, the big question will be what impact it has on Murphy’s Tommy. While Tommy’s personal demons have always been present throughout the show, Peaky Blinder’s fifth season revealed him becoming increasingly unraveled due to his years of drug use and PTSD from his experiences in the First World War. Seemingly losing his grip on reality, most fans would agree that the only character that would have had the strength of will to potentially rescue Tommy from the brink of complete self-destruction would have been McCrory’s Polly.

Yet, while Polly’s death will undoubtedly spell bad news for Tommy, her passing will also likely present more opportunities for Anya Taylor-Gray’s Gina Grey. With Polly’s son Michael and his American bride chomping at the bit to usurp Tommy’s position within the family, fans will be eager to know whether Polly’s lingering posthumous presence will be enough to keep the peace. UK fans will have a chance to find out for themselves when Peaky Blinders season 6 hits BBC One later this weekend. Meanwhile, US fans are still waiting for an official Netflix release date.

Source: Radio Times (via iNews)

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TC Phillips is a scribbler, mess maker, and storyteller by nature. He is also a publisher and an author of his own special brand of warped fiction, and he revels in delving headfirst into all things strange, bizarre, and fantastical. A self-proclaimed nerd of the highest order, the vibrational energy generated by his constant state of fanboy excitement should probably be harnessed to power a small city. When his pancreas is not screaming under the pressure of his dietary habits, he is constantly befuddled by his three children and amazed that his long-suffering wife has not yet taken it upon herself to murder him in his sleep. He Tweets at @T_C_Phillips

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