Peaky Blinders 'successor' with huge similarities lined up on BBC

A new historical crime series is reportedly in development at the BBC, dubbed the 'spiritual successor' to Peaky Blinders.

Peaky Blinders fans were left bereft and despairing over what else to do with their Sunday evenings when the iconic British period crime drama came to an end on 3 April 2022.

However, if you've binged your way through every other historical drama series and nothing's quite hitting the spot like Peaky Blinders, fear not, because the series has an upcoming 'spiritual successor'.

It may be set in Soho, London opposed to the Shelby's Birmingham, but the gangster series will follow a similar theme - exploring the criminal underworld of the early 20th Century.

Granta Books

The BBC has yet to release an official synopsis of the series or any plot details, however, a source told Deadline Dope Girls could be set to fill that Peaky Blinders shaped hole in your life.

Inspired by Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground - a non-fiction book by Marek Kohn - the show will follow the drug use and chaos which ensued following the First World War and will be partially based on the true story of a woman named Kate Meyrick.

Meyrick, a single Irish mother to eight children living in London in the 1920s, became known as the 'Night Club Queen' when she started running nightlife hotspots in a bid to support her family.

The mum served five prison sentences during her 13-year career - there being strict licensing laws on alcohol after WW1.

Meyrick argued her night clubs provided a social service to veterans of war, whether it be with alcohol, drugs or prostitutes.

As per Deadline, the mother-of-eight's clubs also allowed women to freely dance, do drugs and have sex too.

Alamy Stock Photo/ Chronicle

The upcoming BBC series was commissioned by BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore and Rebecca Ferguson and is being written by Polly Stenham (The Neon Demon) and Alex Warren (Eleanor) - alongside additional writers Matthew Jacobs Morgan (The Rig) and Xiao Tang (Stay Away).

The series is set to unravel in six parts and is being produced for BBC One by Kate Crowther and Jane Tranter from production company Bad Wolf - responsible for television series such as His Dark Materials and the upcoming era of Doctor Who.

BBC

Michael Lesslie from Bad Wolf will be an executive producer on the series, alongside writers Stenham and Warren and BBC's Rebecca Ferguson.

As well as producing the series for BBC One, Bad Wolf is reported by Deadline's source as speaking to US co-production partners and global streaming services, however, discussions are reported as being in the early stages.

Casting is expected to be announced in due course and filming is set to commence later this year.

LADbible has contacted Bad Wolf and the BBC for a comment.

Topics: BBC, Social Media, TV and Film, UK News, World News

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.