More than 3.7million people tuned in to watch Peaky’s masterful finale on BBC One in April, so how do you follow a cross-cultural behemoth like it? Six months on, Knight’s much-vaunted return to prestige telly, SAS Rogue Heroes, proves to be another feather in his flat-cap. What’s good for me is when teenagers tell me ‘I watch it with my dad’ and vice-versa, and it’s something that appeals to both generations.” And it’s still going on – and even increasing – which is great. “People from all over the world still send me photos of people in Peaky Blinders bars. “When Snoop Dogg got in touch, something felt different,” he says today. Steven Knight on the set of ‘Peaky Blinders’. The pair chatted for three hours, with the rapper explaining how Knight’s show reminded him of his own gang culture experiences while growing up in California. Even so, it wasn’t until Snoop Dogg asked to meet Knight, that he realised his passion project had ram-raided its way into the public consciousness.

Of course, Knight was no stranger to phenomenons, having co-created global quiz juggernaut Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the ’90s. Men across the globe started donning copycat baker boy caps, and requesting the Peaky haircut at barbers (severe skin-fade with a tousled fringe). Famous fans included A$AP Rocky, David Beckham and David Bowie.

The addictive crime yarn charting the exploits of the Shelby gangster clan became an unstoppable cultural totem. “This is the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve done”Īfter the bottled-lightning success of his hit BBC show Peaky Blinders, which aired the first of its six seasons in 2013, you’d think little would shock Knight. It was emotional, which took me by surprise.” They watched all six episodes, one after another, and by the end some were in tears. “I kept glancing at them to see their reactions. “It was the most nerve-wracking thing I’d ever done,” admits the maverick Birmingham writer, down the phone line from his London home. As an elite organisation cloaked in secrecy, you might imagine they were a tough crowd. Recently, Steven Knight attended a low-key screening for his anarchic new drama series SAS Rogue Heroes – which chronicles the extraordinary circumstances in which the Special Air Service was formed – for a host of serving and ex-officers.

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