Searches for “Peaky Blinders The Immortal Man” surge every time the show trends, and for good reason. The phrase sticks because two figures in Steven Knight’s crime saga keep defying fate on screen, reshaping plots fans thought were settled. One of them literally stands back up after a bullet. The other cheats death so many times the idea feels baked into the myth.
Here is the core: the “Immortal Man” nickname grew around Alfie Solomons after surviving the Season 4 finale shooting, and it shadows Tommy Shelby through Season 6 as he survives war trauma, the 1929 financial collapse, fascist enemies, and even a doctored diagnosis. That thread matters right now because the confirmed Peaky Blinders movie, announced by creator Steven Knight and set after the series, leans on who still walks and why.
What “The Immortal Man” means inside Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders is a period crime drama set from 1919 into the early 1930s. It launched on BBC Two in 2013, shifted to BBC One for its sixth run in 2022, and spans 36 episodes distributed internationally by Netflix. One through-line across those years: survival as currency. Characters who endure gain leverage, and that survival often arrives at the last possible second.
Fans started using “Immortal Man” less as a formal title and more as a shorthand for resilience that borders on unbelievable. In a series where vendettas end quickly, one man coming back from a headshot and another dodging death, prison, and political purges reframes the story’s stakes every time.
The label took hold on social media after Season 5 arrived in 2019, when audiences realized what the Season 4 finale really set up. It has stayed popular during rewatch cycles, especially since Season 6 aired in 2022 and left open doors for a film continuation.
Alfie Solomons: shot in 2017, standing in 2019
The defining moment lands in the Season 4 finale, first broadcast in December 2017. Tommy Shelby shoots Alfie Solomons on a Margate beach. The camera lingers, the feud feels settled, and then two years later in Season 5 Alfie reappears, scarred yet very much alive, altering the power map overnight.
That return did not just spark memes. It changed the calculus of alliances and revenge across episodes set in 1929, the year of Black Tuesday. Across October 28 and 29, 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 23 percent, a historic shock that the series threads into its storyline as the Shelbys pivot from crime to politics and back again.
Alfie’s survival also unlocked a quieter theme. Power in Peaky Blinders rests not only on guns, but on persistence. One more day alive means one more negotiation. For a crime boss, that is capital.
Tommy Shelby’s escapes, the 1929 crash, and a fate rewritten in 1933
Tommy Shelby endures World War I in the trenches, returns to Birmingham with trauma, and then walks through ambushes that would finish most men. The series sets Season 5 against the 1929 crash and weaves his survival into British politics. Season 6, set in 1933 as fascism rises, tests the boundary again. A diagnosis designed to destroy him turns out to be a lie, and his split-second choice in the finale keeps the game alive.
Dates anchor that arc. Season 5 aired in 2019, directly referencing 1929’s market collapse. Season 6 in 2022 lands in the shadow of 1933, when the world pitch shifts. The show also collected recognition along the way, including Best Drama Series at the 2018 BAFTA Television Awards, proof the saga’s grip extended beyond cult status.
Viewers sometimes miss the structural trick. The series often announces doom early, then forces Tommy to improvise out of a corner. That rhythm, from Season 1 in 2013 to the last episode in April 2022, makes the idea of an “immortal” protagonist feel intentional rather than accidental.
Want to track the thread fast, without a full rewatch today
- Season 4 Episode 6, December 2017 : the Margate beach confrontation and Alfie’s apparent end.
- Season 5 Episode 1, August 2019 : Alfie’s return and the 1929 crash backdrop taking hold.
- Season 6 Episode 6, April 2022 : Tommy’s revelation in 1933 that resets his future.
The movie horizon : why the “immortal” idea still matters
Steven Knight has repeatedly said the Peaky Blinders story will continue with a feature film. In interviews in 2021 and again in 2024, he confirmed a script set after Season 6, with Cillian Murphy expected to return as Tommy Shelby. Production timing updates in 2024 pointed to a post-series timeline that advances the story beyond 1933.
That sets a clear implication. If Alfie Solomons survives a point-blank shot, and Tommy Shelby survives misdiagnosis and political enemies, their unfinished business is not flavor, it is the engine. The series already planted the pieces in plain sight, across 36 episodes and a time frame that runs from 1919 to the early 1930s. The film can cash those checks, especially with Europe sliding toward conflict that reshapes every alliance.
This is where the “Immortal Man” thread pays off in narrative terms. Survival builds memory, memory builds leverage. The show timed the 1929 crash, noted the 23 percent two day market plunge, and used it to yank power away from the Shelbys before handing it back through grit. The movie simply has to decide which survivor holds the sharper memory, Tommy Shelby or Alfie Solomons, to deliver the definitve turn audiences expect.