10 Greatest Original TV Heroes Of The Last Decade
4. Tommy Shelby: Peaky Blinders (2013-)
Cillian Murphy’s turn as the Peaky Blinders head honcho is a brooding, complex and totally brilliant performance that elevates every second of screen time he’s a part of.
Seemingly at once calculating and unpredictable, the show revolves around Tommy’s rise to power first within the ranks of his own family, then in Birmingham, to England and beyond. The ever shifting power dynamics within the Shelby family and the angry, repressed ‘oh so English’ dialogue give the show a very unique feel in a crowded market. But it’s Tommy’s increasingly desperate scheming to attain and hold onto his power that ramps up the tension every season.
His on-screen chemistry with Sam Neill’s crooked, hard line Inspector Campbell, Tom Hardy’s unstable Alfie Solomons and Adrien Brody’s teeteringly camp Mafia don, Luca Changretta are what brings these supporting characters to life and keeps Tommy constantly on his toes.
When you think of the show’s most iconic moments (Tommy’s surprise uniting of the Shelby and Lee families from season one, the beat perfect escape from seemingly inevitable demise as the crescendo of season 2, the increasingly sinister and hypocritical monologue he delivers in season 3 before watching blankly as his entire family is arrested before him, leaving him alone in the opulent wealth his corruption has bought him), all of these moments focus their attention on Tommy’s expression.
He seems like a character who is difficult to read, but in that lies the genius of Murphy’s performance, as everyone who watches feels like they and they alone are able to work out the vast complexity of calculation occurring behind those dark eyes.
In terms of seeing a manifestation of the character’s iconography over the past decade, look no further than the fashionable resurgence of the newsboy caps worn by Tommy and his gang in the show. Every year brings more themed bars, parties and other tie in merch.
As other members of the family have dropped away, or been killed off, Tommy has remained the show’s focus and with no end yet in sight. Season 5 was still one of the BBC’s most watched dramas of 2019 and the previous seasons are now a Netflix mainstay. Tommy’s manic reign of villainy may well continue into the next decade.