PEAKY BLINDERS could continue on without Cillian Murphy, according to the show’s creator Steven Knight.
The Irish actor has played protagonist and gangland kingpin Tommy Shelby on the hit period crime drama since it started back in 2013.
Work on the sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders is ongoing with filming most recently taking place in Bolton.
Knight announced back in January that the upcoming series would be the last in the show’s initial run, though he has hinted that "the story will continue in another form".
There had been speculation that this could involve a final film outing for the show.
However, Knight hinted to Birmingham Live that the next chapter in the Peaky Blinders saga could play out without Murphy’s involvement.
"In the form it is in, it is absolutely impossible for this to work without Cillian," he said.
"As it grows and progresses, who knows? There may be worlds that are part of the Peaky world that are about someone else but he is the centre around everything orbits."
Though he acknowledged plans for a Peaky Blinders film, Knight was keen to stress it "wouldn't be the final act" of the show
"It will go on in another form, which will be the film, and beyond that we want to keep the world going," he said.
"In other words, the story of Small Heath and the Shelby family will continue on.
"I want to keep it going until... whenever.”
