Steven Knight on Peaky Blinders, Bond and A Thousand Blows – The Radio Times Writers' Room

Welcome back to The Radio Times Writers' Room!

This time around we're welcoming Steven Knight, the prolific writer behind hit series including Peaky Blinders, SAS Rogue Heroes and House of Guinness.

Having started out in comedy, a genre he expressed a desire to return to at some point, Knight also had a hand in creating gameshows, most famously and successfully Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

He's also written the screenplays for some acclaimed films over the years, including Locke, Spencer and Maria, but he is certainly best known for his work on some of the biggest recent TV dramas.

Most notable amongst these has to be Peaky Blinders, the international phenomenon starring Cillian Murphy, which is soon to return as a movie.

Knight explained how he first came across the story of the real-life Peaky Blinders gang, revealing that his own parents had personal experiences with them, which they relayed to him when he was a child.

The series is also one of the earliest and perhaps best examples of Knight's dedication to spotlighting Birmingham and the West Midlands in his work, a trend he is continuing through the development of his own studios in the area, Digbeth Loc.

Knight has worked on many other high-profile dramas, including Taboo, two Charles Dickens adaptations, SAS Rogue Heroes, House of Guinness and more.

Throughout our chat Knight reveals which of these could be returning to our screens – with even the now-10-year-old Taboo in with a chance of coming back.

Of course, some of this will no doubt come down to Knight's schedule. Even a writer as prolific as he is can't do everything, especially when there's a particularly seismic project he is currently working on – the next James Bond film, which he is writing for director Denis Villeneuve.

Most recently Knight has brought us the second season of his period boxing drama, A Thousand Blows. Starring Malachi Kirby, Erin Doherty and Stephen Graham, the Disney+ series follows Hezekiah Moscow, a Jamaican man who in season 1 travelled to the UK in the 1880s hoping to become a lion tamer, but soon found his dreams crushed.

Instead, he entered the world of underground boxing in the East End of London, a world dominated by renowned fighter Sugar Goodson.

In season 2, we find Hezekiah and Sugar as shadows of the men they once were, before Mary Carr, the former queen of all-female criminal gang The Forty Elephants, bursts back into town.

Looking to reclaim her crown, she sobers Sugar up and forms a reluctant alliance with Hezekiah to pull of an audacious, risky plan.

In our chat, Knight spoke about how the new season differs from the first, as well as delving into his writing process and his collaborations with some of the UK's biggest stars.

He also revealed some of his favourite scenes that he's ever written, and addressed the UK scripted TV funding crisis, saying that believes the government "is really getting" the need to invest in the arts.

"Things change all the time, there are ebbs and flows," Knight said of the funding situation. "I just think we in this country need to realise how good we are at it across the board – crew, actors, producers, directors.

"We produce world-beating film and television in this country, and I just think the government needs to understand... which it does. I'm not saying it doesn't understand, because this current government are really getting it and really going for it, which is great.

"It's like the Olympics – we're good at cycling, so invest in cycling. We're good at making film, television, music, and better than probably anybody in the world. So what's beginning to happen is the government are beginning to invest in that, which is great."

You can watch the full video at the top of this article right now, and look out for more trips to The Radio Times Writers' Room soon.

Next time, we will be chatting with Chris Chibnall, the former Doctor Who showrunner who also created Broadchurch, and has written for series including Torchwood and Law & Order UK. He will be talking to us all about his new Netflix series Agatha Christie's Seven Dials – don't miss it!

In the meantime, you can also catch up with our previous chats with Mark Gatiss, Harry and Jack Williams, Noah Hawley and Neil Cross.

A Thousand Blows season 2 is available to stream on Disney+ now – you can sign up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month now.

Add A Thousand Blows to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.

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