Peaky Blinders gets two-season BBC deal

The BBC has placed a new two-season order for British gangster series Peaky Blinders.

The double order came amid a raft of drama commissions from the UK pubcaster, including a new season of Keshet’s The A Word and a Barbara Windsor biopic.

Season three of Peaky Blinders, which is set in 1920s Birmingham, is currently airing on BBC Two. The channel has ordered seasons four and five from producers Caryn Mandabach Productions and Tiger Aspect.

Steven Knight created the show and will pen the new series. It is distributed by Endemol Shine and has sold well internationally, playing on Netflix in the US.

Babs, about the life of British actor Barbara Windsor, will be produced by the BBC and Tony Jordan’s prodco Red Planet, with Jordan penning the one-off.

The BBC also said there will be a TV adaptation of David Nicholls’ novel Us, produced by Drama Republic. Another literary adaptation, of Sathnam Sanghera’s memoir The Boy with the Topknot, will be produced by Parti Productions and Kudos.

The A Word, a UK version of the Israeli drama about a family with an autistic son, gets a second season. The Keshet UK series is also set to debut on Sundance in the US in mid-July.

Charlotte Moore, acting director of Television, says: “Following BBC Drama’s tremendous start to the year, it is clear audiences are looking for even greater ambition and high quality.

“So I want to continue to expand our range even further and reaffirm my commitment to commission the very best drama in the UK.”

All of the dramas were commissioned by Lucy Richer, acting controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, and Charlotte Moore, apart from Babs which was commissioned by Charlotte and Polly Hill, the former acting controller of drama who recently left for ITV.