Peaky Blinders stars pay tribute to Helen McCrory as season 6 launches

Peaky Blinders‘ return for season six is tinged with a sadness beyond the Shelbys’ world following the death of leading actress Helen McCrory.

Matriarch Polly Gray was a fearless and no-nonsense voice of reason amid the criminal underworld, commanding respect and adoration from all who knew her.

The same could easily be said for actress Helen, whose work within Peaky Blinders, the Harry Potter franchise, Quiz and His Dark Materials was just part of the legacy she leaves behind in British drama and theatre.

News of her death in April 2021 from cancer left a sad note for all of her fans, co-workers and loved ones. Going into Peaky Blinders’ final season, her absence will be felt more than most.

Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Harry Kirton, who plays Finn Shelby in the series, commemorated her life and influence on the series.

“Helen was lovely… she would have been a lovely aunt to have, just in real life, anyway,” he told us. “Off-screen, she was very pleasant to be around, and forever mysterious and wonderful, and I think brought a lot of guidance to Finn – just to speak about him individually. A lot of guidance, and he would need a mother figure.

“Finn didn’t have parents about. There’s barely anything mentioned about their mum, and whether Finn really does have the same mother. You never really know, actually. I’m not sure if that was addressed.

“But having her not on season six definitely did change the tone, just from the process of filming, and just the process of the life. For four or five months, you have a life that very much revolves around Peaky. And just not having her around was very strange. There was a lot of guidance and, like I said, her presence missed.

“I think others felt the same in their own way,” the 23-year-old added. “This season especially, with Finn becoming his own man, and sort of maybe going off with his own rules in some senses, he needed her guidance now more than ever. But I think— I don’t know whether to call it this, but her legacy and her presence on the show will forever [be there].

“[Helen] taught a lot of lessons to me, even as an actor. So I think she’ll never be forgotten, and always treasured, and always remembered – just the way she was as the character to my character, and just [Helen] her to me,” Harry concluded.

“I think even if she wasn’t there, she still was there.”

Writer Steven Knight told us, until filming scheduling was disrupted due to the COVID outbreak, there was still hope Helen would appear in the final season, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

He said: “The loss of a human being dwarfs any sort of consequence, in terms of the production or any of that… and the tragedy of losing Helen is, you know, of itself, the tragedy.

“However, one of the consequences was that, you know, we had a structure that we had to change, and it changed incrementally as her condition got worse, until, in the end, we knew that there was going to be no Polly.”

“We had to address that situation, and provide a fitting epitaph for the character. All we can do is to address the character. Because the human being – as I say, the loss of the human being is so much greater, but all we can do is deal with the loss of the character.”

The show’s commemoration includes a three-minute long silence as they pay tribute to Helen’s character, Polly. This includes the lighting of a gypsy caravan containing her body and belongings.

All lead characters are present in the moment, with the emotional scenes proving all too real for those involved.

Unfortunately, Sophie Rundle, who plays Ada Shelby, was unable to attend the day of filming itself.

“I actually wasn’t there on the day, because I was having my son,” she told us. “So I did my bits separately, which was even stranger, actually, and they kind of, you know, superglued me in. But I very keenly felt the emotion of it, because we took the time.

“Anthony [Byrne], who directed it, showed me what they’d shot, and he was like, ‘This is how it’s going to go.’ He showed me everything. So I kind of saw it, and then filmed my bit.

“It was really moving, because how do you pay tribute to someone like Helen, and someone like Aunt Polly?

“They were so fundamental to Peaky Blinders, and to this journey. It was really real, that stuff. It wasn’t put on. It wasn’t acting. It was really real. It wasn’t just me – I think everybody felt very moved by it, because I don’t know how you’d begin to honour her. But that’s the way we tried to do it in the show.

“It was very moving, and we very keenly missed her. But she’s such an intrinsic part of this show and this story. You kind of can’t move anywhere in the Peaky Blinders world without having sort of Helen and Aunt Polly, you know, there with you.

Speaking about season six, Sophie added: “She is the heart of it. I’ve said this before, but I really don’t know if Peaky would quite be what it is without her. So she’s there, and she’s part of all the decision-making that the characters make, because she is vital to them.”

Helen McCrory is survived by her husband Damian Lewis and their two children.

Peaky Blinders airs Sundays at 9pm on BBC One and will be available on iPlayer.