The best family films to watch in the BT TV Player
May 30 | 2 min readPeaky Blinders has gained a cult following since it premiered on the BBC in 2013, going from word-of-mouth hit to pop culture phenomenon as it traced the saga of a Birmingham crime family.
Starring Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, the leader of a criminal gang in the lawless streets of 1920s Birmingham, the show has garnered an army of famous fans including Julia Roberts and Samuel L. Jackson.
Here are nine similar shows to watch now - from US dramas like Boardwalk Empire and Sons of Anarchy, to homegrown hits like Gangs of London, SAS Rogue Heroes and Taboo.
1. SAS Rogue Heroes
How can I watch it?
All six episodes of SAS Rogue Heroes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer. You can also watch on Sunday nights at 9pm on BBC One.
What’s it about?
SAS Rogue Heroes is based on the bestselling book by Ben Macintyre which tells the story of how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two.
Sex Education's Connor Swindells stars alongside Alfie Allen and Jack O'Connell.
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
SAS Rogue Heroes has been adapted for the screen by Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, with first reviews calling SAS Rogue Heroes "an adrenaline-fuelled cross between Peaky Blinders and a classic war film".
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2. Gangs of London
How can I watch it?
Gangs of London Season 1 is available to watch on Sky Atlantic with NOW.
Stream Season 2 Thursdays on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
What’s it about?
Created by Gareth Evans (The Raid) and starring Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), nine-part drama Gangs of London sees the head of London’s most powerful crime family assassinated, sending ripples through the city.
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
Well if for any reason, you don't think Peaky Blinders is quite violent enough, Gangs of London takes that brutal violence up an almighty notch.
But, like Peaky Blinders, the violent scenes in Gangs of London are interspersed with a real family drama. Where Peaky explored the dynamics of the Shelby family, Gangs of London introduces the Wallace family.
3. Boardwalk Empire
How can I watch it?
Boardwalk Empire Series 1-5 are available to watch on Sky Atlantic with NOW.
What’s it about?
Boardwalk Empire is an American period crime drama set largely in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the show, a politician plays both sides of the law, conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era of the 1920s.
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
When Peaky Blinders arrived on our screens back in 2013, David Stubbs from The Guardian wrote that it was “Britain's answer to Boardwalk Empire."
As he points out: “Both are set immediately after the First World War in a gangland in which the future is up for grabs; and both feature a returning soldier shattered and embittered by his war experiences.”
4. Penny Dreadful
How can I watch it?
Penny Dreadful Series 1-3 are available to watch on Sky Atlantic with NOW.
What’s it about?
Penny Dreadful is a British-American horror drama set in Victorian London in 1891. It follows Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, scientist Victor Frankenstein, and medium Vanessa Ives, who unite to combat supernatural threats.
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
Penny Dreadful and Peaky Blinders are so similar in style that one TV fan revealed on Reddit that he watched the whole first season of Penny Dreadful thinking it was Peaky Blinders.
In another parallel, Penny Dreadful also stars Helen McCory - Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders.
5. Taboo
BBC
How can I watch it?
Taboo Season 1 is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
What’s it about?
Set in 1814, Taboo follows James Keziah Delaney, a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father's shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself.
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
Taboo was co-created by Stephen Knight, who created Peaky Blinders. He worked alongside Tom Hardy - Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders - and Hardy's father, Edward, to bring the gritty period drama to the small screen.
Both shows demonstrate a different way of doing English period drama, or, as Sarah Hughes from The Guardian writes: "There are historical dramas, and then there are historical dramas written by Steven Knight."
6. Ripper Street
How can I watch it?
Ripper Street Series 1-5 are streaming on Prime Video. Prime membership required.
What’s it about?
Ripper Street is a British TV series set in Whitechapel in the East End of London, in the aftermath of the infamous Jack the Ripper murders.
The action centres around the notorious H Division - the police precinct from hell - which is charged with keeping order in the area’s chaotic streets.
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
Both are British period crime dramas set in England roughly 30 years apart. Simon Brew writes on Den of Geek that Peaky Blinders and Ripper Street show an ambition for serious drama from the BBC, where both were commissioned.
In another parallel, Ripper Street's Anthony Byrne has taken over directing duties for Peaky Blinders season 5.
7. Godless
Netflix
How can I watch it?
Godless Season 1 is streaming on Netflix now. Subscription required.
What’s it about?
Godless is an American western drama set in the 1880s American West. Here, a ruthless outlaw is in search of a former member of his gang, who’s found a new life in a quiet town populated only by women.
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
As Steve Charnock from deadgoodbooks.co.uk writes, Godless might be set a good three decades before and 7,000 miles away from the Peaky Blinders action - but there are still plenty of parallels between the two programmes.
“Both are grim, uncompromising and often quite shockingly violent. The majority of main characters in both are male but, as with Steven Knight’s series, strong women prop this western series up too," he writes.
8. Animal Kingdom
Prime Video
How can I watch it?
Animal Kingdom Series 1-3 are available to stream on Prime Video now. Prime membership required.
Seasons 4 and 5 are not currently streaming in the UK.
What’s it about?
Animal Kingdom is an American crime drama that centers on a Southern California family, whose excessive lifestyle is fuelled by their criminal activities. Sound familiar?
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
Animal Kingdom is the "American Peaky Blinders" according to Sean Hutchinson from Inverse.com. He compares the family dynamics of the two shows, writing: “These dramas highlight the fact that everybody has secrets, even family members who outwardly love each other. But it’s what’s inside that counts, even in the case of family ties.”
There's another connection in that Animal Kingdom is fronted by Finn Cole - the young British actor who plays Michael Gray in Peaky Blinders.
9. Sons of Anarchy
Amazon Video
How can I watch it?
Sons of Anarchy Series 1-7 are available to buy on Amazon Video.
What’s it about?
Sons of Anarchy is an American crime drama that follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in a fictional town in California.
How’s it similar to Peaky Blinders?
Peaky Blinders is described as the "same as Sons of Anarchy in a different era" by Clara McGrath from geeks.media, with Maggie Panos from PopSugar agreeing: “[Peaky Blinders] is essentially Sons of Anarchy, if Sons of Anarchy took place in post-WWI England and featured horses instead of motorcycles.”
Stream Seasons 1-6 of Peaky Blinders on BBC iPlayer.
