Irish actor Ned Dennehy has joined fellow country man Cillian Murphy on the cast of BBC gangster drama ‘Peaky Blinders’.
Dennehy – who recently landed roles in Paddy Considine’s ‘Tyrannosaur’ and Noam Murro’s ‘300’ sequel, ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ – will play the role of Charlie Strong in ‘Peaky Blinders’, which is currently shooting in Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool in the UK.
A co-production between Caryn Mandabach Productions, BBC and ‘Ripper Street’ co-producers Tiger Aspect, ‘Peaky Blinders’ is set in 1919 in the lawless slum neighbourhoods of post war Birmingham.
Here, the extended Shelby family make up the fiercest gang of all, the 'Peaky Blinders'. Named for their practise of sewing razor blades into the peaks of their caps, the Peaky Blinders make their money from off track betting, protection and robbery.
Their boss Tommy Shelby (Murphy) is the most ruthless brother of them all, but his leadership is about to be put to the test.
Murphy and Dennehy will be joined by a cast that includes Sam Neill (The Tudors) as a ruthless new police chief from Belfast and Helen McCrory (Hugo), Annabelle Wallis (The Tudors), Iddo Goldberg (Secret Diary Of A Call Girl) and Charlie Creed-Miles (Nil By Mouth, Wild Bill).
Created by Steven Knight (Eastern Promises), the series is being directed by Otto Bathurst (Hustle) and is due to be broadcast in 2013.
