By order of the Peaky Blinders, there are 120 questions waiting. This quiz covers Tommy Shelby, Arthur, Polly, Ada, Birmingham, the Shelby Company, the Garrison, Grace, Alfie Solomons, horses, politics, fascists, gang wars, family betrayals, and the modern rock soundtrack that made 1920s Birmingham feel strangely contemporary.
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Tommy Shelby, Family & Birmingham
Q: Who is the central character of Peaky Blinders?
A: Thomas “Tommy” Shelby.
Q: Who plays Tommy?
A: Cillian Murphy.
Q: What English city is the Shelby family based in?
A: Birmingham.
Q: What neighborhood is strongly associated with them?
A: Small Heath.
Q: Who is Tommy's older brother?
A: Arthur Shelby.
Q: Who plays Arthur?
A: Paul Anderson.
Q: Who is Tommy's younger brother who is part of the core gang early on?
A: John Shelby.
Q: Who plays John?
A: Joe Cole.
Q: Who is Tommy's sister?
A: Ada Shelby.
Q: Who plays Ada?
A: Sophie Rundle.
Q: Who is the Shelby family's formidable aunt?
A: Polly Gray.
Q: Who played Polly?
A: Helen McCrory.
Q: What family business becomes increasingly legitimate?
A: Shelby Company Limited.
Q: What business is central early in the series?
A: Betting and bookmaking.
Q: What pub serves as a major gang headquarters?
A: The Garrison.
Q: What distinctive hats are associated with the gang?
A: Flat caps.
Q: What blade myth is associated with those caps?
A: The show depicts razor blades sewn into the peaks.
Q: Is the razor-blade origin unquestionably historical?
A: No. Historians debate it, and disposable razor blades were expensive and not widely available in the gang's earliest real era.
Q: What war has deeply traumatized Tommy and his brothers?
A: First World War.
Q: What military role did Tommy have?
A: Tunneler in the British Army.
Q: What mental-health symptoms does Tommy show?
A: PTSD, nightmares, depression, and emotional detachment.
Q: What substance does Tommy use early to cope?
A: Opium.
Q: What animal passion does Tommy have?
A: Horses.
Q: What does the family race and bet on?
A: Horses.
Q: What ethnic heritage is part of the Shelby family identity in the show?
A: Romani heritage.
Q: Does the show use older terminology for Romani people?
A: Yes, reflecting period language, though modern usage should be handled carefully.
Q: What political ambition does Tommy gradually develop?
A: He becomes a Member of Parliament.
Q: What political party does Tommy join?
A: Labour Party.
Q: What does Tommy use politics for?
A: Genuine influence mixed with strategic protection, intelligence work, and personal ambition.
Q: What makes Tommy dangerous?
A: He combines battlefield trauma, intelligence, patience, charisma, and willingness to use violence.
Grace, Polly, Michael & Family Relationships
Q: Who is Grace Burgess when she first arrives?
A: An undercover agent posing as a barmaid.
Q: Who plays Grace?
A: Annabelle Wallis.
Q: Where does Grace work undercover?
A: The Garrison.
Q: Who is her police handler?
A: Inspector Campbell.
Q: Who plays Campbell?
A: Sam Neill.
Q: What happens between Grace and Tommy?
A: They fall in love.
Q: Does Grace ultimately betray Campbell for Tommy?
A: Yes.
Q: Who does Grace later marry?
A: Tommy.
Q: What is their son's name?
A: Charles Shelby.
Q: How does Grace die?
A: She is shot at a charity event by an assassin targeting Tommy.
Q: What object is she wearing when shot?
A: A sapphire necklace.
Q: What does Grace become in Tommy's later mind?
A: A recurring hallucination and symbol of grief.
Q: Who is Polly's son?
A: Michael Gray.
Q: Who plays Michael?
A: Finn Cole.
Q: What happened to Michael as a child?
A: He was taken from Polly and adopted by another family.
Q: What does Michael become in the Shelby business?
A: A key financial and managerial figure.
Q: Who does Michael marry?
A: Gina Gray.
Q: Who plays Gina?
A: Anya Taylor-Joy.
Q: What develops between Michael and Tommy?
A: A power struggle.
Q: What does Michael propose after the 1929 crash?
A: A restructuring that would effectively replace Tommy's leadership.
Q: How does Tommy respond?
A: Rejects him and increasingly treats him as a rival.
Q: Who is Polly's daughter?
A: Anna, who died in Australia before Polly could reunite with her.
Q: Who does Polly become romantically involved with later?
A: Aberama Gold.
Q: Who plays Aberama?
A: Aidan Gillen.
Q: What happens to Aberama?
A: He is murdered during the failed Mosley assassination operation.
Q: How is Polly's absence handled in Season 6?
A: The character is said to have been killed off-screen after Helen McCrory's death.
Q: How does this affect Michael?
A: He blames Tommy and vows revenge.
Q: What happens to John Shelby?
A: He is shot dead by Italian-American gangsters.
Q: What family member survives into the final season but is increasingly sidelined?
A: Finn Shelby.
Q: What does family mean in Peaky Blinders?
A: Love, obligation, business, protection, betrayal, trauma, and leverage are almost impossible to separate.
Alfie, Luca, Mosley & Major Enemies
Q: Who is Alfie Solomons?
A: A Jewish gang leader and baker in Camden Town.
Q: Who plays Alfie?
A: Tom Hardy.
Q: What city is Alfie based in?
A: London.
Q: What business fronts part of his operation?
A: Bakery.
Q: Is Alfie a reliable ally?
A: Absolutely not.
Q: What makes Alfie entertaining?
A: Rambling speeches, unpredictable betrayals, menace, humor, and strange logic.
Q: What does Tommy do to Alfie at the end of Season 4?
A: Shoots him in the face on a beach.
Q: Does Alfie die?
A: No.
Q: What Italian-American gangster comes to Birmingham for revenge?
A: Luca Changretta.
Q: Who plays Luca?
A: Adrien Brody.
Q: What type of revenge campaign does Luca declare?
A: Vendetta.
Q: What family tragedy motivates the vendetta?
A: The Shelbys killed members of the Changretta family, including Luca's father.
Q: Who ultimately kills Luca?
A: Arthur Shelby.
Q: What does Tommy fake to make the plan work?
A: Arthur's death.
Q: What real British fascist becomes a major Season 5 and 6 character?
A: Oswald Mosley.
Q: Who plays Mosley?
A: Sam Claflin.
Q: What political ideology does Mosley promote?
A: Fascism.
Q: What organization did the real Mosley later lead?
A: British Union of Fascists.
Q: What does Tommy plan against Mosley?
A: Assassination.
Q: Does the plan work?
A: No.
Q: What happens to Barney, the planned shooter?
A: He is killed before he can shoot Mosley.
Q: Who is Billy Grade?
A: A former footballer and singer coerced into working for the Peaky Blinders.
Q: What is Billy secretly doing?
A: Informing on the Shelbys.
Q: Who is Jack Nelson?
A: A powerful American political and criminal-connected figure tied to Gina.
Q: What movement does Nelson flirt with politically?
A: Fascist and authoritarian networks.
Q: What Irish republican organization appears throughout the series?
A: IRA.
Q: What historical figure does Winston Churchill represent in the series?
A: A powerful British politician who occasionally uses Tommy for covert work.
Q: Does Tommy truly become loyal to fascism?
A: No. He infiltrates and opposes Mosley while playing a dangerous political game.
Q: What is Tommy's greatest enemy by the final seasons?
A: A mix of external political enemies and his own trauma, guilt, ambition, and suicidal thinking.
Q: Why do historical figures strengthen the show?
A: They place fictional gang drama inside real postwar British political tensions.
Final Season, Music & Hard Peaky Blinders Trivia
Q: What apparent illness is Tommy diagnosed with in Season 6?
A: Tuberculoma.
Q: Is the diagnosis real?
A: No.
Q: Who arranged the false diagnosis?
A: Dr. Holford as part of Mosley's circle.
Q: How does Tommy discover the deception?
A: He sees Holford in a newspaper photograph connected with Mosley's wedding.
Q: What does Tommy nearly do before learning the truth?
A: Kill himself.
Q: What vision stops him?
A: A vision of his daughter Ruby.
Q: What happened to Ruby?
A: She died from tuberculosis.
Q: Who is Ruby's mother?
A: Lizzie Shelby.
Q: Who plays Lizzie?
A: Natasha O'Keeffe.
Q: What happens to Lizzie and Tommy's marriage?
A: It collapses after grief, betrayal, and Tommy's emotional distance.
Q: What secret son does Tommy discover?
A: Duke Shelby.
Q: What role does Duke begin taking?
A: Increasing involvement in the Shelby family and criminal operations.
Q: What happens to Michael Gray?
A: Tommy kills him after surviving Michael's planned bombing.
Q: What words summarize Tommy's justification?
A: Michael had chosen revenge and attempted to kill him.
Q: What happens to Finn after he refuses to kill Billy Grade?
A: He is expelled from the family inner circle.
Q: Who kills Billy?
A: Duke.
Q: What does Tommy do to Dr. Holford?
A: Confronts him but ultimately chooses not to kill him.
Q: What does that choice suggest?
A: Tommy may be trying to step away from reflexive violence and begin again.
Q: What happens to Tommy's caravan at the end?
A: It is burned.
Q: What does Tommy ride away on?
A: A white horse.
Q: What song opens many episodes?
A: “Red Right Hand.”
Q: Who performs it?
A: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Q: What is unusual about the soundtrack?
A: Modern rock, punk, and alternative music scores a historical drama.
Q: Name one artist frequently heard besides Nick Cave.
A: Arctic Monkeys, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, or others.
Q: Who created Peaky Blinders?
A: Steven Knight.
Q: How many seasons does the television series have?
A: Six.
Q: What period does it begin in?
A: 1919, immediately after World War I.
Q: What does “by order of the Peaky Blinders” signal?
A: The gang asserting authority and intimidation.
Q: Were the real historical Peaky Blinders identical to the fictional Shelby gang?
A: No. The show freely fictionalizes and shifts historical timelines.
Q: Why is Peaky Blinders especially deep trivia material?
A: Family hierarchy, British politics, real historical figures, gang rivalries, horses, costumes, modern music, and Tommy's psychological decline all matter.
How Did You Score?
If Small Heath, the sapphire, the Garrison, Grace's undercover role, Alfie's bakery, the failed Mosley hit, Ruby's vision, and Tommy's final white horse all came easily, your Peaky Blinders trivia is sharp.
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