We’re talking about a time when your “social media” was a local pub and your “streaming service” was a gramophone that skipped like a toddler on a sugar high. Imagine trying to send a text message. You’d have to find a telegram boy on a bicycle, pay him a shilling, and wait a day for a reply. Infuriating, right? Yet, Tommy Shelby manages global organized crime with this setup.
It’s also a world where your idea of “fast food” was a pie from a street cart that may or may not have been sitting there since last Tuesday. No takeaway apps. No drive-thrus. Just pure, gritty survival. The Shelby family isn’t ordering a pizza when they’re stressed; they’re smashing a whiskey glass and planning a heist.
The Fashion: A Time Capsule of Awkwardness
Let’s talk about the clothes, because that’s what really throws people off. You think your skinny jeans are tight? Try a flat cap that gives your head a permanent case of hat-hair. And don’t even get me started on the three-piece suits. Tommy Shelby looks cool, but can you imagine wearing a wool suit in the summer for a simple trip to the grocery store? You’d be a walking puddle of sweat, smelling like damp sheep.
Filmed in Birmingham - moments when Hollywood blockbusters looked
But here’s the funny thing: the show isn’t actually set in the 1920s as we remember it. It’s a fictionalized, edgy version of the 1920s. It’s like if your grandpa’s old black-and-white photos suddenly got color, a drum-and-bass soundtrack, and a whole lot of attitude. The real 1920s had flappers and jazz; Peaky Blinders has gangsters who look like they’re about to drop a noir album.
