Peaky Blinders: BBC historical crime drama moving channels for season 5

Only four other shows - including Line of Duty - have made the switch before

Peaky Blinders is officially joining the small pantheon of shows to move from BBC Two to BBC One.

Having originally debuted on BBC Two in 2013, the fifth run of Steven Knight’s Birmingham-based historical drama will debut on the Beeb’s main channel when it begins in 2019.

The news was confirmed at the Edinburgh TV Festival by the channel’s director of content, Charlotte Moore.

Peaky Blinders – which stars Cillian Murphy and Helen McCrory – has remained a hit in the ratings since it began with its latest season, becoming BBC Two’s most watched drama of 2017.

According to Moore, the series will be given “more creative headroom to experiment” when it moves channels.

“Peaky Blinders is world class drama at the top of its game and the time has arrived for it to move to the UK’s biggest channel,” she said.

The fifth series will begin filming this autumn, with an air date set for 2019. Knight – who confirmed the show will run for at least two more seasons beyond the fifth – also revealed plans to place the Shelby family front and centre of a ballet version, having been approached by Rambert dance company.

“I had a meeting with Ballet Rambert who want to do Peaky Blinders – The Ballet. I’m saying ‘why not?’” he told the Birmingham Press Club.

Othershows to have moved to BBC One despite originally airing on BBC Two include The Apprentice, MasterChef, Line of Duty and The Great British Bake Off, which later jumped to Channel 4.