Peaky Blinders

Question 1

Genre

Answer 1

Hybrid, long form TV drama
Combines gangster, Western and historical drama elements

Question 2

Setting

Answer 2

Birmingham-Examines the effects of WW1 on the working classes

Question 3

Awards

Answer 3

Best Director at the BAFTAs
Numerous awards for lighting, set and costume design

Question 4

Gangster conventions-Importance of family loyalty-

Answer 4

The Shelbys are devoted to protecting and securing their family

Question 5

Gangster conventions-protagonist

Answer 5

Cool, quiet but ambitious antihero who uses intelligence as well as brutal violence to ascend the ranks of criminal family

Tommy embodies this stock character as a man of few words, in order to maintain their position at top

Question 6

Gangster conventions-Antagonist

Answer 6

Lawmaker who is investigating the hero and his family
Unusual in crime drama as he threatens the status quo
Campbell is the antagonist, his torture of Arthur establishes him as a binary opposition to Tommy

Question 7

Gangster conventions-Usually an older patriarch/matriarch within the criminal family

Answer 7

Aunt Polly as another stock gangster genre character is the less smart, more violent sibling of the hero

Question 8

Gangster conventions-Narrative

Answer 8

The power of criminal family is threatened by other gangs, the law, and from threats within
The main characters must pull together

Question 9

Long form TV drama

Answer 9

More subplots and characters to add richness and complexity to a more generic narrative
Aunt Polly, Ada and Freddie, the Lee Family have fully developed narrative arcs all in S1

Question 10

E1 of Peaky Blinders

Answer 10

Establishes a number of plots and subplots around these themes
Tommy’s robbery backfired and brought Campbell to Birmingham
Grace as an undercover agent catches Tommy’s eye opening a possibility of both romance and betrayal

Question 11

References to the Western genre

Answer 11

Tommy’s ride through the city streets
The townspeople who dash to hide when he arrives and then linger to watch the drama

Question 12

Visual codes-Clothing

Answer 12

The Shelby brothers wear tailored suits with pocket watches, signaling their rise to wealth and power, despite their working-class roots

Contrast to the labouring class (Simple, worn-out clothing) and emphasises their ambition to climb to social ladder

Question 13

Visual codes-Iconography and setting

Answer 13

Production design to reflect the narrative tone ‘Set within industrial poverty but full of energy and excitement, not despair’

Opening sequence as Tommy rides through Small Health, used to establish Tommy’s reputation and the environment is full of life

Question 14

Technical codes-Tracking shots

Answer 14

Follow the characters through the streets and other locations

Question 15

Technical codes-Camera shots and editing

Answer 15

Establish tension between Arthur and Tommy, Tommy and Freddie, and Tommy and Polly

Question 16

Audio codes-Dialogue

Answer 16

Tommy is a man of very few words, but what he says is well-chosen. Campbell is the opposite of this