Peaky Blinders

The Noose - S4-E1

Factual error: It's Christmas Eve 1925. Tommy and his son leave a mince pie for 'Santa and Rudolph', but there was no reindeer called Rudolph until the 1930s. The character's author hadn't even graduated by 1925, and only began writing a book about a red-nosed reindeer in 1939.

Season 2 generally

Factual error: Michael's impending 18th birthday is often mentioned as the time he becomes an adult and can make his own decisions. The age of majority in 1922 (and until 1970) was 21.

Necrothesp

The Duel - S4-E5

Factual error: Kenya tea chests are marked KTDA. (Kenya Tea Development Agency). This did not come into being until the early 1970's.

Episode #3.5 - S3-E5

Factual error: All of Tommy's former men salute him. As a sergeant-major and not an officer he would never be saluted. This is drummed into all soldiers and they'd never do it, even in civilian life. Not only is it against regulations, but many NCOs would take it as an insult.

Necrothesp

Episode #1.1 - S1-E1

Factual error: Thomas' record says he received the King's Medal for Gallantry in the First World War. There was no such medal. It would have been the Military Medal.

Necrothesp

Black Tuesday - S5-E1

Factual error: In the House of Commons, Tommy refers to an unseen Tory MP as "My Right Honourable Friend" and as "the member for Epping." The former address is only used for Privy Councillors of the speaker's own party (Tommy is a Labour MP); MPs of other parties would be "the Right Honourable Gentleman." Winston Churchill was MP for Epping at the time and Tommy's secretary later says Churchill is in America, so he can't possibly be addressing the member for Epping.

Necrothesp

Season 4 generally

Factual error: Jessie Eden is described as a shop steward. A shop steward is the senior part-time trade union official in a particular workshop or department, who also has an ordinary job in that shop. Jessie appears to be a full-time official and covers a number of factories. She would actually be referred to as a trade union organiser.

Necrothesp

Show generally

Factual error: In series 1, Sergeant Moss says he and most of his men served in the First World War, but none of them wear any medal ribbons. In series 2, Moss has suddenly acquired three medal ribbons, but they seem to be made-up and are not relevant to the First World War. From series 3, Moss is wearing the correct three service ribbons for the First World War.

Necrothesp

Show generally

Factual error: Chief Inspector Campbell has been sent from Belfast. Belfast at the time was policed by the Royal Irish Constabulary, which had no rank of chief inspector.

Necrothesp

Season 5 generally

Factual error: The fact Colonel Younger is black and this may be an issue socially is implied several times (meaning the series acknowledges his ethnicity), but it never seems to be seen as surprising that a black man is a colonel in the British Army in the first place. While there were a small handful of mixed-race junior officers in the army in the First World War, there were no post-war black regular officers (it was actually against regulations at the time) and no black officer would hold such a senior rank until long after the Second World War.

Necrothesp

Episode #2.2 - S2-E2

Factual error: Tommy's service record quoted by Churchill says that he served throughout the war with the Warwickshire Yeomanry. But we already know that he was a tunneller on the Western Front. The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a cavalry regiment (which actually served in Egypt, Gallipoli and Palestine and finally as a machine-gun battalion on the Western Front at the very end of the war). All tunnellers served with the Royal Engineers.

Necrothesp

The Duel - S4-E5

Factual error: The British Army had no female soldiers in the mid-1920s. Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps was disbanded in 1921 and no women served in the army from then until the formation of the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1938.

Necrothesp

Episode #1.4 - S1-E4

Factual error: When Freddy and Ada return to Birmingham from London they are seen on a boat called Kennet. This is a wide boat (i.e. almost twice the width of a 7 ft narrowboat) which could not have made its way from London to Birmingham in 1919/20 as all of the locks were narrow locks (7 ft) at that time.

Bigpete9

Episode #3.4 - S3-E4

Factual error: John says that he has found plans in the British Library. It was only renamed the British Library in 1973. Before that it was called the British Museum Library (or commonly just the British Museum) and nobody called it the British Library.

Necrothesp

Episode #1.4 - S1-E4

Factual error: In 1919 Chapman receives £200 from the Russian Embassy, but diplomatic relations were not established until 1924.

Episode #3.2 - S3-E2

Factual error: Father Hughes says that Admiral Hall may be detained in the House of Lords. Admiral Hall, although knighted, was never ennobled and thus did not sit in the House of Lords.

Necrothesp

Episode #2.6 - S2-E6

Factual error: The field marshal is wearing a revolver to the Derby. British soldiers are only ever armed on duty, certainly not when attending social events. He also wears his Sam Browne outside his shoulder strap instead of beneath it; no officer would do this.

Necrothesp

Episode #1.1 - S1-E1

Other mistake: When detective Campbell is making his speech to the officers, the board behind him has dates ranging from 1966 - 1975.

More mistakes in Peaky Blinders

Grace Burgess: You think I am a whore?
Tommy Shelby: Everyone's a whore, Grace. We just sell different parts of ourselves.

More quotes from Peaky Blinders
More trivia for Peaky Blinders

Episode #2.1 - S2-E1

Question: In the street scene with the three brothers leaving in a car for London, the car has 'Fiat' the grille. In the next scene with the car, there is nothing on the grille. Could they have had this car, at that time? After all there was mention of 'Bugatti' at least he beginning of the same episode. Would a Lanchester made in Sparkbrook be more likely?

More questions & answers from Peaky Blinders

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.