Original subtitles

[theme song playing]

[indistinct chattering]

[laughing]

God, I'm getting big now.

- So, how was London? - It's crackling with revolution.

The Poplar docks are on strike.

Did our friends give us what we asked for?

- How much? - Two hundred pounds.

Who did you meet?

An attache from the Russian embassy.

In a Chinese restaurant.

Our revolution is international. And it grows by the day.

[chattering]

Jeremiah, Jeremiah... What do you see?

Your sister and Freddie got back this morning.

I tried following them, but Freddie's so good at getting away.

He's like a fish.

Right, well, keep fishing, eh?

We wait until the boy's in position.

- [Scudboat] Last bets now! - Don't spend your rent money, Charlie!

That's your starters, gentlemen. No more bets.

- I was here on time. - Finished.

- I got a tip off, I need this bet. - The race has started.

- Please. - No!

[sighs] Fine.

- Get rid of him. - [Arthur] We said no, now get out!

[man] All right. All right, I'm off. I'm off.

Night, lads. See you tomorrow.

- It's a good day. - Where's John?

John is in the Garrison.

He says he wants a meeting about a family matter.

After he's said his piece he'll come back and take his place with Scudboat.

Scudboat? John will be here in ten minutes.

- All right. - Five.

Wait.

Good boy.

[creaking]

John?

[all shouting]

Put that down! Put that down!

This is for Cheltenham.

We're just taking back what's ours.

There's more money here. Search everywhere.

All right John, there's only one man... No!

There's only one man guarding the house.

What's troubling you?

[clearing throat]

Polly, you know what it's been like. Since Martha died.

God takes the best first.

Truth is, my kids have been running bloody rings around me.

Running barefoot with the dogs until all hours.

Pol, give him ten bob for some shoes. Is that it, John?

Tommy, it would be better to do this without you.

Now what's your point?

What the kids need is a mother.

So that's why I'm getting married.

Does this poor girl know you're going to marry her,

or are you going to spring it on her all of a sudden?

I already proposed and she said, "Yes."

I think there's a shell about to land and go bang.

It's, er... It's Lizzie Stark.

[laughing]

John, Lizzie Stark is a strong woman,

and I'm sure she provides a fine service for her customers.

I won't hear the word. Understand? Do not use that word.

What word is that, John?

You know what word that is.

- Everybody bloody knows. - Everybody can go to hell.

Whore. That word?

Or prostitute? How about that one?

Right. I want it known. If anyone calls her a whore again,

I will push the barrel of my revolver down their throats,

and blow the word back down into their hearts.

Men and their cocks never cease to amaze me.

John, Lizzie Stark never did a day's work vertical...

She's changed. All right. People change.

- Like with religion. - Lizzie Stark has got religion, eh?

No! No, she doesn't have religion. But--

But she loves me.

Now listen, Tommy. I won't do it without your blessing.

But of all the people in the world, I want you to see it...

- As brave. - Oh, it's brave all right.

[Polly] Brave is going where no man has gone before.

And with Lizzy Stark, John that's not what you'll be doing.

Listen, Tommy. Welcome her to the family.

As someone who's had a hard life.

All right? Because I need someone.

The kids need someone.

[door opens]

- Tommy! We've been done over! - What?

Jesus Christ!

What the bloody hell happened here?

[Scudboat] The Lees. All of them.

Cousins, nephews, even their bastards...

[Polly] They've taken anything they can lay their hands on.

Four cash boxes.

They left these.

Wire cutters. Why would they leave that?

Nobody move.

I think our friends are playing the game.

What game?

Aunt Pol. Don't touch anything.

Erasmus Lee was in France.

Shit...

Whenever we gave up ground to the Germans,

we'd leave behind booby traps, set up with wires.

We'd leave wire cutters as part of the joke.

Somewhere in here there's a hand grenade.

Holy Jesus.

Attached to a wire.

Don't move any chairs or open any doors.

Go easy, John Boy. Go easy.

No.

Boys, no. It's not in here.

If it was in here, it would have blown by now.

It was my name on that bullet Erasmus sent.

He's set up a trap all right.

But he's set it up just for me.

Finn.

Finn stay exactly where you are.

I was pretending I was you.

Which door did you open to come in?

I didn't. I climbed in.

I want you to climb out exactly the same way you climbed in, okay?

No. Finn.

Clear!

[man] Are you all right?

It could've killed us.

[both panting]

That's why you should never pretend to be me, okay?

Okay?

[whistles]

I got you ten minutes with her.

[woman shouting]

You could say thank you. It's easier to see the Pope these days.

Put your hand on the Bible.

I don't believe.

I know I didn't come here to lie.

This war is cutting us all off.

A boy almost got killed.

[laughing]

A child.

You're all children.

I say enough.

Your boys tried to kill me and it didn't work.

I come here with a proposition.

I thought he was your ally.

I plan to betray him.

No wonder you won't touch a Bible.

- I have ambitions. - You want to play a switch.

- I need your boys. - For what?

Kimber's not the brains. There's a gadze who runs the races.

I'm collecting smart people. But I need strong men too.

Now your boys should know this.

We get the winner in one of every three races before

the race even starts. No need for chalkers or rafflers.

I'm talking certainties.

You're saying you're going to do someone down,

and in the same breath ask me to trust you.

On my mother's side, we are kin.

Let us talk family business.

Ada, can you do my back?

Ada?

I know what was in the envelope.

I looked. Money.

That bloke we met in London you said was a Frenchman,

he was Russian. I'm not an idiot, Freddie.

How is it you take all the risks, and Stanley Chapman gets the money?

- It's money for the cause. - You're blind.

I'd be if your brothers had anything to do with it.

This isn't about them. This is about you.

And me. And this.

You're a dreamer, Freddie.

You give money away while we rot in here.

And you talk about revolution.

I need to know.

Who are you loyal to, Freddie?

I said, who are you loyal to?

[door opens]

Did you have something to do with this?

I asked an acquaintance for an address.

She said she would only give it to me anonymously.

She is afraid of the consequences.

Whose address is it?

Tommy, I'd like to suggest a strategy.

[car approaching]

Your message said, you have an address for me.

Anonymous tip off.

The address of Stanley Chapman.

- You promised me Freddie Thorne. - This is instead of Freddie Thorne.

No deal.

Inspector, Stanley Chapman is a bigger fish than Freddie Thorne.

He is currently holding 200 pounds in cash.

Given to the Communist party by the Russian Government.

That's right, Chapman has snow on his boots,

and all you need is a shovel.

If he talks, you'll have proof.

You might even get that medal.

Now, before I give you the address,

I want your word, that you will let Freddie Thorne

and my sister leave the city.

Very well. You have my word.

Our little truce is proving quite productive for both of us, Inspector.

I get the information and protection and you...

Well...

You get Bolsheviks.

But on a more pressing matter,

I'm afraid Mr Churchill is becoming impatient.

And I fear that if you don't get back those stolen weapons soon,

I will be replaced.

It would be the finish of me. That's for sure.

When my business with Kimber is done, the guns will be returned.

- That was the deal. - Then I am in your hands. Completely.

You hold all the cards.

But I hope to God, that my dismissal doesn't come

before your decision to hand back those guns.

I say this for your sake.

Because, if I were to be fired and it were your fault,

I would do things that would shame the devil.

[laughs]

My fury is a thing to behold.

On my last day in power for example, I would see to it

that you and your scum brothers have your heads,

stoved in with mallets and spades.

And your sister too.

The baby inside her would be of no consequence to me.

The only one to be spared would be your little brother, Finn.

He would however be lifted as a juvenile,

and dumped into that part of the adult prison,

where men have the most appetite for boys like him.

That would be a dark day indeed, Mr. Shelby.

If my dismissal comes before your decision.

Do you understand?

Know this...

The clock is ticking.

Stanley, it's the police.

Stanley, get here.

[Stanley] You bastards!

[Stanley screaming]

Look what we found.

Stanley Chapman does have snow on his boots.

Mr. Chapman...

You are fucked!

[door opens]

[Moss] He still refuses to say where it came from.

I'm sure with a little persuasion, he'll tell us everything he knows.

Including the whereabouts of Freddie Thorne.

- Sir? - Your face is a picture.

I thought you had done a deal.

- Is that what you thought? - You gave your word.

My word?

Do people still talk about such things in this idiotic century?

My word to whom?

To a Peaky Blinder?

Now, interrogate Mr. Chapman until he tells us,

where we can find Freddie Thorne and his wife.

The source of the money is of secondary importance.

You think my campaign against Shelby has become personal?

Correct.

'Spot on', as they say in London society.

Now, go and interrogate Mr Chapman,

and do not make the mistake of being too gentle.

Right, sir.

[door opens]

[door closes]

Today's her birthday.

I know you never miss it.

Then I'm lucky you're not a copper.

- What do you want? - I came to warn you.

They lifted Stanley Chapman.

How do you know? The police don't spill that information.

It was me and Tommy who tipped them off.

In return for safe passage for you and Ada,

Tommy gave them Stanley and the money.

Money? What money?

- Who told you about the money? - Who do you think?

It was Ada's idea. That's how desperate she is

to get out of that rat hole you're in.

She didn't want to be here when you found out.

Sometimes the women have to take over. Like in the war.

You fucking Shelbys--

Don't swear over your mother's grave.

You play your tune and expect the whole world to dance to it.

You don't have time for this.

You did a deal? For me?

Don't flatter yourself. For Ada.

And you think this copper will keep his word.

If he doesn't, Chapman will give you up.

You'll still have to leave town. Same result.

- So neat. - So leave.

Except there's one thing that you got wrong.

He won't be able to give up my address. He doesn't know it.

That's how it works.

None of us know each other's addresses.

So you wasted your fucking time.

They'll keep beating him and beating him for information he doesn't have.

So all you've done is sign the death warrant of a good man.

So you won't leave.

No! I won't fucking leave! If you want me out of Birmingham,

it'll have to be in a wooden box.

You lay a hand on our Ada, I'll put you in a wooden box myself.

You raised a stubborn one there, Irene.

[Moss] You told me to carry on. I wanted to stop.

He had some kind of seizure.

[Campbell sighs] So you killed him.

Did he give you an address?

[sighs]

What's the matter with you? He fell down some stairs.

This is not bloody Belfast!

Not yet! But if men like him get their way, it soon will be.

So find some stairs, throw him down, and call the coroner.

Use Grayson.

If he has any awkward questions, ask about the welfare

of his mistress in Salteley. That will shut him up.

[Kimber] To think I used to live in a shit hole like this.

Bloody animals.

But the Shelby's are doing an excellent job for us.

We haven't lost a penny

to rafflers or chalkers in eight race meetings.

- The bookies are purring. - So we throw the dog a bone.

I think so.

Mr Kimber. Mr Roberts. Come and have a look around.

After you.

[Scudboat] You can feed half of Birmingham

with what you've had for lunch. Get back to work.

We heard the Lees had turned you over.

You shouldn't listen to gossip, Mr Kimber.

[Scudboat] Come on boys. Chop Chop.

Business is good.

Since you know which horse is going to win before you set the odds.

Your information is very much appreciated.

So, where are they?

John, Lovelock, Scudboat. In here.

This is my team.

They'll take up their pitch at your convenience.

John is the book. Scudboat the bag man.

And of course we bring our own protection.

Warwick. Next Saturday. At least 50 yards from the beer tent.

Gentlemen...

[Polly clears throat]

...and Lady.

I have in my hand a legal betting license.

Issued by the board of control.

The Shelby family has its first legal racetrack pitch.

[all cheering]

Congratulations, there you go.

Thirty. Forty. Fifty.

These cigarettes have a strange smell, Arthur.

They smell like rotting water.

And look. Rats have got at some of them.

- They're stolen, aren't they? - Don't ask.

- You keep them on a boat. - What do you care?

Can you check my adding up, please?

You should make a new start with this place.

Do it properly. These cigarettes are not fit to sell.

Smells like Gallipoli.

You should find a new place to store them.

It has to be far away from coppers.

- But not rats? - All the wharfs have rats, Grace.

- What's wrong with a dry warehouse? - Tommy's orders.

What orders?

Always keep Contraband near to petrol boat moorings.

Don't boats get searched?

We moor them at junctions, so there's more than one way out.

No locks within a mile so we can move stuff fast.

Your brother doesn't obey the law, but he has rules.

He's a very precise man.

- Is my adding up right? - It is now.

[Campbell] One. Two.

Three.And four.

We'll search them one by one.

Please Lord, let that which I seek be found here.

Not so much as a bullet, sir. Just more cigarettes and whisky.

[Thomas] Arthur tells me you've been asking questions.

About how we run our business.

And how we get our booze and where we keep it.

I'm just trying to help.

Let's you and me go for a walk.

- Where to? - Come on.

Why here?

[door closes]

You're a good Catholic girl, aren't you?

Yes.

Well, then you know it's here people come to confess.

After you.

Well, here it is, Grace.

I'll confess.

I need someone.

Kimber has an adviser by the name of Roberts.

He talks well. He keeps the accounts.

He runs the legal side of the business.

And you need a Roberts.

Arthur tells me you have ideas.

I'm not an accountant. Nor a lawyer.

No.

But you have something I need.

Class.

I need someone who looks right at the big meetings.

Epsom, Ascot.

Is this a job interview?

Arthur says you're good with numbers.

Well, that's relative. He is quite poor.

- You keep the books in order. - They were chaotic.

But you are a liar.

No Catholic girl would enter a church and forget to make the sign of the cross.

You are very perceptive.

You lied about the pub you used worked in.

Now I find out you are Protestant.

- Do you care? - No.

I lied to fit in.

You pull a pint like someone who's thinking about it.

This is not an interview, it is an interrogation.

Sit down.

Look, Grace...

You washed up in a place you don't belong.

For whatever reason.

- My good fortune. - And perhaps mine.

You know that most of what I do is illegal?

I'm not blind.

You'd still be willing to work for me?

Are you offering me the job?

[scoffs]

Then I accept.

There's something else you should know.

A very important detail about my reasons for employing you.

You disappoint me.

Do you resign?

No.

My appetite for the work has only increased.

Tomorrow I'll show you around.

[Thomas] Lizzie.

Hello, Lizzie.

That bag looks heavy, jump in.

- Kids' teas. - You like kids?

- Yeah. - Good. John's got four of them.

I'm not going to try to talk you out of it.

[engine stops]

I just want to talk.

You're not against us?

John's his own man.

And you are your own woman.

Now, Lizzie, since I came back from France,

I've come to you on many occasions.

- Tommy, you didn't tell him. - No, I didn't tell him.

Just like you didn't tell him.

Now why didn't you tell him, Lizzie?

Why didn't you tell him that you'd been serving his brother

for the past two years?

Because the past is the past.

I don't want to lose him. He's a good man.

That's the answer I was hoping you'd give. The past is the past.

You see our John says you've changed.

And I believe him. And that's good.

Change is good.

These are new times I'm told.

I wish you both every happiness.

And I want you to see that as my wedding gift to you.

And our farewell to pleasures gone by.

You mean... One last time?

One last time. You and me.

It's eight bloody pounds.

So where shall we go?

Tommy? Shall we go to my lodging?

So the past is not the past.

You can keep the money. Get out of the car.

- Tommy, please. - Get out of the car.

I love him, Tommy. Really.

Really.

John will make his own decision.

But he will have the facts.

Your brother is ten times the man you are!

[sighs] Of that I have no doubt.

He is obviously not stupid.

All we found was stolen tobacco and whisky.

Which you left in place.

Of course. I would never endanger you.

You are doing well, Grace.

I've been working on Arthur. He is easier.

- Than Thomas. - Yes.

Less intelligent.

Yes.

Is that a word you would use about Thomas?

It's your word.

He has promoted me.

He wants me to be his bookkeeper and secretary.

A cutthroat gangster with a secretary.

The pretensions of these hoodlums are quite breathtaking.

- Are they not? - Yes. Quite breathtaking.

He has obviously fallen quite heavily for you.

I thought you would be pleased.

Remember who you're dealing with here.

A man who cuts off ears and cuts out tongues.

I know what he is, Sir.

The difficulty with undercover work, Grace, is to remember what you are.

I come here with good news and I get this.

Grace.

Tommy.

I need a favor. I want to borrow the car.

I want to take Lizzie to the country with the kids.

We're going to celebrate getting the license.

Not a problem, John.

I'll need the keys.

Look, John, you're my brother.

There's something I have to tell you.

Yesterday, on the front seat of that car, I offered Lizzie some money.

And John? She said, "Yes."

Now that's a fact. You do with it what you want.

Take the keys. Take Lizzie to the country.

Marry her if you want.

But you have to know.

She said, "Yes."

[slams door]

Get another glass.

[clears throat]

You make a toast?

I'm Irish, I can make a million toasts.

May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead.

What are we celebrating?

Contract of employment.

Bookkeeper. Shelby Brothers Limited.

I don't like that word 'limited'.

To be respectable, you have to be limited.

That's what worries me.

I had the phone put in.

It's in the back.

If we knew someone else who had a phone, we could call them.

And since we are celebrating,

I had this delivered from Rackhams department store.

Aren't you going to open it?

No. Save it. For a special occasion.

Right, your first job for the company. I want you to get that to my sister.

You don't see her?

No one does. She is hiding from me.

I am told she goes to a bathhouse on Montague Street.

On woman only days.

She goes in disguise, so I need to get someone inside.

What am I delivering?

It's an invitation to a family occasion.

I want her there. So tell her there will be a truce.

Am I delivering bait for a trap?

If you check that contract, you'll find it doesn't say

anything about asking questions. Give her the invitation.

And put that thing in the cupboard, until I say.

[door opens]

[uncocks gun]

What the hell, John?

I couldn't get it lit. Couldn't even do that.

Why would you want to be smoking that?

Same reason as you. Pain in the head.

I spoke to Lizzie. I told her what you told me.

She said, "Your brother is a dirty liar."

But then I spoke to her sister and her cousin.

Bought them a couple drinks.

"Just a few of regulars", they said.

"That's all."

"To keep the wolf from the door, she still sees a couple of regulars."

[sniffs] You must think I'm an idiot.

I think you're the first Shelby in history,

to have a legal license for anything.

[sighs]

What would our granddad say, eh? He'd be turning in his grave.

"Honest bloody money? Eh? In this house? In here?"

You always used to do voices when we were kids.

Well, we're not kids now, John.

But we still have to look out for each other, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. Come on. Go home.

Get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow.

We have?

Tomorrow we finish the war with the Lees once and for all.

- Since when? - Since just now.

Ten o'clock tomorrow.

Be ready for anything.

Out you get boys.

[Thomas] Ready boys?

- John, ready? - Yeah, I'm fine.

Have a drink.

What? Why are you all staring at me for? What?

Good. Let's go.

What?

Tommy, what's your plan? We are in shotgun range.

John, before we go into battle...

There's something you're going to need.

What are you bloody doing, Tommy?

Smile, John, it's a wedding.

Whose bloody wedding?

Now if we'd told you, you wouldn't have come.

There's a girl from the Lee family who's going a bit wild.

And she needs marrying her off.

- Ah, fuck! - John boy, John, boy!

John!

You have no bloody right, Tommy!

Listen to me. Listen to me.

A girl who needs a husband. A man who needs a wife.

Tom, I'm not bloody marrying some fucking mushroom picker...

[shushing] John boy, come on. Listen.

I have already betrothed you.

If you back out now, there's gonna be a mighty war breaking out here.

It's gonna make the Somme...

It'll make the Somme look like a tea party.

But if you marry her, our family and the Lee family

will be united forever. And this war will be over.

Now, it's up to you John.

War or peace.

Let go of me.

Right.

You should see the size of her dowry.

Her what?

Her dad is giving you a car.

[clears throat]

Will he do?

He'll do.

[all cheering]

Here she is.

[John] She'd better be under 50.

Come here. Go on.

[Johnny Dogs] We're here today to join in matrimony,

this man and this woman.

You look well.

...and harmony and togetherness.

Which is sanctioned and honored by the presence,

and power of these two families around us.

Do you John Michael Shelby

take Esme Martha Lee to be your beautiful wife?

You got my invitation.

Grace said there's a truce.

Family day.

- Your husband couldn't make it? - He's not speaking to me.

And when he does, he calls me, "A fucking Shelby."

Even though I'm a Thorne now.

Thorne in my side that's for sure.

To have and hold--

My God, Tommy. You admire him, don't you?

There remains one more part of the ceremony.

That's the mingling of the two bloods.

Where the two families become the one family.

I now pronounce you man and wife!

[all cheering]

Come on, John, kiss the bride, will you?

[cheering]

[all singing]

[vomits]

[cheering]

[Ada laughing]

[Ada] Spin me round again.

- Tell Ada to slow down. - You think she'll listen to me?

I tried to stop her but she's been drinking.

She's been stuck in that basement for weeks.

What do you expect? She's going off like a firecracker.

Oh, Christ, Tommy, please.

[Arthur] Come here. Enough now. Enough.

Ada, come on, have a rest. Sit down.

Come and look Esme! Look at the family you've joined!

Come, look at the man who runs it! He chooses his brother's wives!

He hunts his own sister down like a rat and tries to kill his own brother-in-law.

Ada, that's enough.

Now he won't even let me have a fucking dance!

- Not even at a fucking wedding! - Sit her down.

Calm down, Ada. Ada, you must calm down.

[panting]

Holy shit. Water. Right.

[Arthur] Bloody hell Ada, you do pick your times.

[all clamoring]

[car approaches]

[Arthur] Stop! Stop! Stop!

Come here. Enough now. Enough.

Slow her up. Nice and easy.

[John] Story of your life, Arthur.

Right, we are here.

Come on.

Nice car, John. How's she run?

Beautiful. Really smooth.

Your sister's giving birth and you're talking about a car.

Not much us men can do now.

- Except go get drunk. - Right, come on.

There's one man who should be here.

You are right, Pol, Freddie should be here.

Is that a heartbeat I hear inside that chest?

The truce lasts till sunrise.

On my oath. Tell Freddie it's safe.

Ada!

Right boys, let's wet the baby's head.

[loud groaning]

Keep going. That's right. Push.

[screams]

I think it might be the wrong way round.

[screams]

I attended three sisters.

You're right.

- We should lean her forward. - Come on, Ada.

Come on. Not long to go now, darling.

[screaming]

[Polly] Push, two, three.

[Arthur] To beautiful women.

I should go. It's my wedding night.

You sit down.

You don't want to be among women when there's a baby coming.

You think her husband will stay away?

[John] Freddie will be there. Nothing will keep him away.

Tommy said it's all right for him to be there. Isn't that right?

That's right. I'm all heart tonight.

[laughter]

You know what, John boy?

I think it's that lovely barmaid, that pretty one that just walked out

that's made our brother go all soft.

[John] Drinks to that.

[inaudible]

Ada!

Come on, open up.

[crying]

There you go, love.

Aw, he's beautiful.

[door opens]

It's a boy, Freddie.

It's a beautiful baby boy.

There you go.

Welcome to the world, son.

Welcome.

Open up! Police!

[banging on door]

Freddie...

You can't come in here. There's a baby just been born.

[Ada] Don't hurt him. Freddie.

You are hurting him, leave him alone.

You're taking me away from my baby.

- Ada! - Freddie!

[John and Arthur singing]

You want me to open that champagne now?

[door slams]

It's a boy.

Pol? Polly? Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Polly! Polly!

But the police came and took his father away.

Don't you dare look at me like that.

You liar!

[theme song playing]