Peaky Blinders star breaks silence on major character absence from The Immortal Man film: "It’s something you don’t see on TV"

When the cast of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man was confirmed, there were a number of notable absences from the cast of the original show, but perhaps none so seismic than Arthur Shelby star, Paul Anderson.

Anderson played Arthur in all six seasons of the show, and is one of only three stars to have appeared in every episode, along with Cillian Murphy and Sophie Rundle. Both Murphy and Rundle have returned for the film.

Now, finally, Anderson has opened up on the film and his absence, telling LADbible that he thinks The Immortal Man is "amazing", despite his being "apprehensive" when going into it.

On not appearing in the film, he said: "Well, what can you do eh? It is how it is. I thought I’d just leave them to it. I think it’s great. I [wasn't] very nice to people in it [the series]. But people loved me."

On how his character is referenced in the film, which we won't delve into to avoid spoilers, Anderson said: "I think it’s great. I mean, it’s such a powerful thing to do. It’s something you don’t see on TV."

Anderson also spoke briefly about the upcoming revival of the series, which will be set further on in the timeline and follow "a new generation" of Peaky Blinders.

Anderson said: "They plan to do another two seasons but I don’t know if he [creator Steven Knight] wants to do it with a younger generation or a new team of Peaky Blinders. What I mean by that is, Tommy will still be there."

We currently know little about the follow-up series, but we do know it will be set in the 1950s and Knight has said that it will be "potentially a better iteration" of the story.
Speaking in an interview with Broadcast, Knight added that the reason for returning to the series was simple: "We felt there was an appetite for more."
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is in select UK cinemas now and will be available to stream on Netflix from Friday 20 March 2026 – sign up from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media.

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