Karl’s racism towards his sister – “that thing” – and those schoolyard threats about what will happen “when they come to power” show how imminent the fascist threat felt. These revolting people and their revolting brags. Diana Mitford’s insouciant retelling of the time Jews were forced to eat grass to entertain the Nazi elite is based on a boast allegedly made by her sister Unity after dining with Julius Streicher. That deathly meeting was a sickening place to be as a viewer, and not just for the dizzying camerawork. (He might, at a push, make it to the Battle of Cable Street, and if so, he’ll likely bus in the anti-fascist protestors himself.) Tommy also won’t live to see Mr Churchill become prime minister, but if his strategy comes off, he will have helped him neuter the fascist threat in Britain and stop the likes of Mosley and Mitford from rolling out the red carpet in welcome to the German chancellor and his new world order. If Dr Holford and the country’s top three brain surgeons are right, Tommy won’t live to see the outbreak of World War II. Scrape away the cash and the cars and the power and there’s just pain, grief, and now, a deadline. Maybe after that, all those Peaky Blinders fans who aspire to be Tommy Shelby will see that beneath the sharp cheekbones and the sharp tailoring there’s nothing to envy. Warning: contains spoilers for Peaky Blinders season six episode four ‘Sapphire’.
