Peaky Blinders' costume designer says Ada will wear costumes designed for Polly in season 6
Aunt Polly actor Helen McCrory tragically passed away in April 2021.
While the return of Peaky Blinders to our screens is welcome news to TV fans around the country, there's one major sadness hanging over the new season.
Helen McCrory – who played Polly Gray on the hit gangster drama – tragically passed away in April 2021, and was therefore unable to take part in the new season.
But it looks like the show is pulling out all the stops to honour her memory, with costume designer Alison McCosh explaining that Ada Shelby (Sophie Rundle) will be wearing costumes originally intended for McCrory.
"In season 5, we really wanted to make our mark with Polly. We really felt that the script really led to that and we discussed at the start [before season 6], that we could push her even further," she said during an interview with Metro.co.uk.
"It was really difficult because [Helen] was one that I had started [designing costumes for] very early on. Helen loved her costume fittings, I loved the fittings with her. They were exciting and engaging. It was hard because I didn’t want to let her go. I didn’t want to let Polly go."
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She added: "I said, 'I think it would be really interesting that Ada would want to step in and step off into Polly’s shoes, use some of these pieces that I’ve created and designed for Polly if we can have Ada wear them, I think it would be really interesting visually to show that, [Ada] trying to step into Polly’s shoes.
"So we did that, Sophie loved that idea and that was a way for me to have Polly move on through Ada."
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Show boss Steven Knight previously outlined to RadioTimes.com how he approached McCrory's absence, explaining that he thought the team had "done it right" when it came to paying tribute.
"The loss of the human being, the loss of Helen is the tragedy. That's the thing. The loss of the character is infinitesimal compared to that. However, it's our job to deal with that," he said.
"To begin with, Polly was in the series and then incrementally bit by bit, it became apparent that there was less and less she would be able to do. And so in the end, we'd reached a point where we knew that she couldn't be in it at all.
"And then you have to first of all deal with the consequences in terms of the story, taking a moment to deal with the loss of the character, but then knowing that that has a reflection in the real world with the loss of the person. So it was trying to balance all of that, and I think we've done it right."
Peaky Blinders is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and Netflix. Read our guide to the best series on Netflix, check out our Drama hub for more news, interviews and features or find something to watch with our TV guide.
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