The sixth and final season of the period crime drama, Peaky Blinders has come to Netflix a few months after airing on BBC and BBC iPlayer. It’s welcome news for fans of the series, but at the very heart of the new season, one important character will be missing and that is Polly Gray (Helen McCrory), the ferocious matriarch of the Shelby family. The show creator, Steven Knight, and one of the series’ main protagonists, Cillian Murphy discuss how they worked to incorporate and pay tribute to Aunt Polly in the final season of the show.
Helen McCrory, who played Polly Gray, sadly died of cancer in April 2021. Her absence from the show meant that a decision had to be taken on exactly how best to continue without her on set. To honor both the character and McCrory, the show’s creator, Knight in an interview with EW reveals it was not a task that was given little thought, saying:
“The idea that Polly’s alive but she’s gone to America or something wasn’t right. We wanted to pay tribute to the character and hopefully the actor at the same time, so we wanted that to be part of the show. I think Helen would’ve wanted us to continue with the influence of Polly.”
In the end, the decision was made to kill off the character and this was done at the season’s premiere. Aunt Polly was collateral damage from Tommy Shelby’s attempted assassination of Sir Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin) which was thwarted by the IRA. Knight went on to discuss how much of an influence McCrory’s character had on the show even in her absence, saying, “She is still a very strong influence on Tommy, and therefore the whole thing. Her death is a catalyst for a lot of stuff that happens, all the way up to the end of episode 6.”
As far as the show and its characters were concerned, none would be more affected by the death of Polly Gray than her nephew, Tommy. Murphy, who plays the character, reveals her impact on the show, saying, “Helen would’ve been in the series if we had shot in 2020, so she’s very much part of the series. Her influence is still in there, particularly for Tommy.” Tommy, who leads his family crime syndicate, had always relied heavily on his aunt for advice, and he trusted her above all others. It would take Tommy a long time to figure out how to operate without her steady hand.
Her death brings Tommy and her son, Michael Gray (Finn Cole), into conflict as Michael blames him for her death. Polly Gray was meant to survive to the end of the series, however, her story would end with all the Shelbys at her funeral, with a wagon pyre and the burning of an effigy. Everyone is in a somber mode as the first episode pays tribute to the family’s matriarch.
Peaky Blinders Season 6 is available to watch on Netflix.
