The legend is back: the final season of Peaky Blinders landed on Netflix on June 10, 2022 and we couldn’t help but binge-watch it. And the real life references in Peaky Blinders Season 6 also attracted our attention. It was a fantastic season and we really wanted more episodes. So we’re very sorry that Season 6 is the last season of the smash hit series. But that’s a topic for another article. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the most important real life references in Peaky Blinders Season 6 and find out what actually happened in real life. If you’re ready, let’s dive into our topic.
Also read: Peaky Blinders Season 6 News – Is Peaky Blinders Cancelled?
Prohibition
Season 6 Episode 1
Prohibition is one of the real life references in Peaky Blinders Season 6. As you know, Prohibition was a nationwide constitutional law that banned the manufacture, importation, transportation, and sale of alcohol and was in effect between 1920 and 1933. In the first episode of Season 6, after the end of Prohibition, Tommy goes to Miquelon Island, which, along with Saint Pierre, is the last French territory in North America.
Miquelon Island played an important role during Prohibition, as illegal alcohol was shipped from there during Prohibition. This, of course, led to a boom on the island. But when Prohibition ended in 1933, the island’s economic income suddenly dropped and people experienced an economic depression.
Tommy’s arrival on the island of Miquelon coincides with the time when Prohibition ended, and the people on the island are quite upset about the situation. He meets his cousin Michael Gray there, whom he hasn’t seen in 4 years.
The most interesting thing about the premiere of Peaky Blinders Season 6 is that we see Tommy refusing to drink alcohol. We see him offering only water and refusing to drink whiskey, which is quite shocking for the fans of the series, since they all know that Tommy was a heavy drinker. Nevertheless, Season 6 showed us that Tommy is slowly realizing that alcohol is exacerbating his PTSD.
Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
In Peaky Blinders Season 5, we first see the character of Oswald Mosley, who Tommy meets in the House of Commons in Episode 1. Mosley was a politician and Member of Parliament in the 1930s. However, he later became disillusioned with mainstream politics and founded the British Union of Fascists (BUF), a fascist political party, in 1932.
When Winston Churcill learns of Mosley’s fascist leanings, he asks Tommy to prevent the revolution. Thus, Tommy plans an assassination attempt on Mosley to be carried out on the night of Mosley’s speech. Unfortunately, however, Mostley manages to escape and the assassination doesn’t go as planned.
In Peaky Blinders Season 6, the biggest mystery about who’s responsible for Mosley’s escape is finally revealed. In the season premiere, before Tommy leaves for Miquelon Island, we see IRA reveals to him that they were responsible because they needed Oswald Mosley alive. In the finale of Season 6, Mosley left London for Berlin with Lady Diana Mitford, to marry her in the presence of Adolf Hitler.
1st World War
Peaky Blinders Season 1
1st World War is one of the most important events in history and also an important theme in the BBC series Peaky Blinders. We see the effects of the war not only in Season 6, but throughout the series. First, the series begins by showing the post-war atmosphere in the United Kingdom. Second, we see the aftermath of the war on individuals, like Arthur and Tommy, who’re severely traumatized because of their harsh experiences on the battlefield.
As you recall, Tommy had only recently arrived in Birmingham from France, where he’d served during World War 1, at the beginning of the show. Therefore, especially in Peaky Blinders Season 1, we observed the PTSD that Tommy was experiencing. He often had nightmares and flashbacks, sleep problems and claustrophobia. But in Peaky Blinders Season 6, we finally see Tommy heal from his past traumas and understand the connection between alcohol and his problems.
Tommy and Grace
Third, one of the other effects of 1st World War that we see in Peaky Blinders is the Roaring 20s. As you know, there was a huge economic boom in the 20s and people wanted to get rid of the depression and despair that the war had caused. That’s why fancy dresses, luxurious parties, dancing and jazz music became more and more popular during that time. In Peaky Blinders, we saw many of these fancy parties attended by the Shelbys themselves – though sometimes to cause trouble.
Also read: 7 Cillian Murphy Performances Ranked – Peaky Blinders Actor
