Are the accents in Peaky Blinders historically accurate? Details explored.

Peaky Blinders, the BBC crime drama that aired from 2013 to 2022, is not only known for its story and cast, but also for the accent of its characters. Set in Birmingham, the show features the local accent of the area is the Brummie accent. It is an easily recognisable accent, but it is rarely heard on television.

While the accent made the show stand out to the global audience, a much-asked question is whether the accent spoken in Peaky Blinders is truly authentic to the period. Let's find out.

The Peaky Blinders accent and its accuracy

Despite being the UK’s second-largest city, Birmingham has rarely been the setting of major film or television productions. According to the show’s creator, Steven Knight, the reason comes down to how hard the local accent is to master. Speaking to Birmingham Live in 2014, Knight explained:

“For some reason it’s a very difficult accent to get right, harder even than Geordie... It’s considered too difficult so we won’t do anything in Birmingham. There’s been a big black hole in the middle of the country as far as TV production goes.”

Interestingly, none of the lead actors of Peaky Blinders are actually from Birmingham or the wider West Midlands. Cillian Murphy, who plays Thomas Shelby, grew up in Cork, Ireland. Hence, to get as close to the accent as possible, Murphy spent time listening and recording locals. He told The Independent:

“I hung out with Steve [Knight], and we went to the actual Garrison pub in Birmingham with his Brummie mates... And we’re just drinking Guinness there, and they’re singing Birmingham City songs and telling all sorts of stories, and I was recording on my iPhone, and then I took that home, and used it to try and track the accents.”

Murphy’s dedication displays the effort that went into making sure he was speaking the correct accent. Even so, when the show aired, it revived some criticism from Birmingham natives who claimed that the characters of the show do not have the accurate Brummie accent. The accent heard in the show seemed to be clearer and more refined than the one heard locally.

Knight has acknowledged this and defended the cast. Speaking to Birmingham Live, he said:

“I feel the pain of people who criticize the accent, as for years I’ve had to hear Brummie accents done badly on the telly. But you can’t not do it because of that ... we gave it a go and I would defend the methods used by the actors. Performance comes first. There’s nothing worse than restricting an actor because they’re thinking too much about getting an accent right.”

His response makes it clear that the show's priority was always performance and storytelling. A 100% accurate Brummie accent might have been too difficult for global audiences to follow, so the creatives aimed for something more accessible without losing the local essence completely.

In the end, this choice has not harmed the show in the slightest. Peaky Blinders remains a global success, with Birmingham itself embracing it fully. So the accent in Peaky Blinders is not completely historically accurate. It is a softened and stylised version of the real Birmingham dialect. But it works due to the cast's efforts, performance, and Knight's storytelling.

Peaky Blinders is streaming on Netflix.

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