Peaky Blinders season 6 start time, cast and where you've seen them before

The sixth and final series of Peaky Blinders returns to the BBC tonight - with viewers said to be in for truly explosive drama as Tommy Shelby and family are back on screen.

The Birmingham gangster drama is returning after two years away, and for the sixth season will see Tommy and his family getting to grips with life in 1930s Birmingham as the world is on the brink of war.

Hollywood star Cillian Murphy returns as the head of the family Thomas Shelby, while Paul Anderson returns as brother Arthur, and actor Tom Hardy will also return for series 6 as Alfie Solomons.

READ MORE: Where is Peaky Blinders filmed? All the locations for series 6

The show's creator Steven Knight has said there will be a "fitting tribute" in the series opener to actress Helen McCrory, who played matriarch Polly Gray since series 1, after her tragic death aged 52 in April 2021.

The series will premiere on the BBC from 9pm on Sunday February 27 and for the following six Sundays thereafter at that time slot, and will also be available to watch on the BBC iplayer.

The opening episode will see Tommy set off for North America, where the end of Prohibition brings new opportunities. But he faces new danger from an old adversary who is finally making his move.

Here we take a closer look at some of the main characters returning to the drama and where you've seen the actors before.

The head of the Shelby family, Tommy is head of the Shelby empire and in the most recent series was seen rising to prominence as an MP.

He failed to topple Oswald Mosley in the final moments of series 5, and will be seen back again.

Talking about series 6, actor Cillian Murphy says: "I don't want to give away any spoilers so I would just say: Tommy is about to face