Chinese quarter, in a laundry
Mr Zhang [in chinese] : Hurry up or they'll kill us all! Hurry!
Mei [in chinese] : Do your breasts still give milk?
A older man [in chinese] : Where are you going?
Mr Zhang [in chinese] : They have asked for her.
In the street of Birmingham.
Mr Zhang : Sir, this is her.
Thomas : The girl who tells fortunes?
A boy hiding : They're doing a magic spell. To make it win a race.
Thomas : The horse's name is Monaghan Boy. Kempton. 3:00. Monday. You ladies have a bet yourselves, but don't tell anyone else.
Jeremiah Jesus, a preacher : And Abraham made his home in a cave. But it was good. Because God resided there with him. You see, children, God does not care if you live in a slum, or in a mansion. God does not care if you are rich, or you are poor...
A man :Morning, sir.
A policeman : Morning, Mr Shelby.
[Peaky Blinders]
In the street of Birmingham.
Man 1 : Come on, lad.
Man 2 : Morning, Mr Shelby.
Man 1 : Come on, hurry up!
In the Shelby's house.
Thomas : Finn?
Finn : Arthur's mad as hell.
Thomas : What does a 10-year-old know about hell? Eh?
Finn : I'm 11 Sunday.
In the betting shop.
John : Tommy! Tommy! Tommy, look at the book. just look.
Arthur : Tommy!
John : All on Monaghan Boy.
Thomas : Good work, john.
Arthur : Tommy! Get in here. Now.
John : That'll be six pennies, nipper.That's ten bob you'll see for that.
Arthur : Now, you were seen doing the powder trick down at Garrison Courts.
Thomas : Times are hard. People need a reason to lay a bet.
Arthur : There was a Chinese.
Thomas : The washerwomen say she's a witch. It helps them believe.
Arthur : We don't mess with Chinese.
Thomas : Look at the book.
Arthur : Chinese have cutters of their own.
Thomas : We agreed, Arthur. I'm taking charge of drumming up their money.
Arthur : What if Monaghan Boy wins, Tommy? You fixing races now? Do you have permission from Billy Kimber to be fixing races? Hmm? And what's got into you? You think we can take on the Chinese and Billy Kimber? Billy's got a bloody army!
Thomas : I think, Arthur. That's what I do. I think. So that you don't have to.
Arthur : There's news from Belfast. I'm calling a family council tonight at 8:00. I want all of us there. You hear me? There's trouble coming.
In a factory.
Freddie Thorne : All right, shut up now. Shut up. Comrades, we're here today to take a vote on strike action.
Crowd : Yes!
Freddie Thorne : But before we have a show of hands for that, let's have a show of hands from all those who fought in France. All those who stood side by side with your comrades, and watched your comrades fall. Raise your hands. The blood shed on Flanders Fields. The sweat of your brows. Who reaps the rewards? Is it you?
Crowd : No, no.
Freddie Thorne : Is it your wives?
Crowd : No, no.
Freddie Thorne : Well, who then? Do they stand among us?
Crowd : No, no !
Freddie Thorne : Or do they sit at home, comfortable, with a full belly? While you scrape to find enough to put shoes on your children's feet! And what is the reward they offer you for your sacrifices made? A fucking cut in your wages! That is your reward! Raise a hand, all those who want to strike!
Crowd : Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
At the Garrison Pub.
Harry Fenton : On the house, Mr Shelby.
Freddie Thorne : I'll take a mild.
Harry Fenton : Right.
Freddie Thorne : Cheers, Thomas. Good health to you. Crown of a prince. Soon to be king, I'd bet.
Thomas : You don't bet.
Freddie Thorne : No, but these past few days I've been speculating.
Thomas : About what?
Freddie Thorne : One of my union comrades has a sister. Works in the telegraph office at the BSA factory. She says, over the past week, they've had messages coming up from London to the brass. From Winston Churchill himself. Something about a robbery. A robbery of national significance, it's said. She found a list of names left in the telegraph machine. And on that list was your name and my name together. What kind of a list would have the name of a communist and the name of a bookmaker side by side?
Thomas : Perhaps it's a list of men who give false hope to the poor. The only difference between you and me, Freddie, is that, sometimes... my horses stand a chance of winning.
Freddie Thorne : You know, there are days when I hear about the cuttings and beatings that I really wish I'd let you take that bullet in France.
Thomas : Believe me, there are nights I wish you had. Hey!
Danny Whizz-Bang : They're going to get me!
Thomas : On three! One, two, three, down !
Freddie Thorne : Breathe, Danny. Breathe!
Danny Whizz-Bang : They're gonna kill me! They're gonna kill me! They're gonna kill me!
Thomas : Danny! Danny, Danny, you're home. We're all home in England. You're not in France. You're not an artillery shell, Danny, you're a man. Eh? You're not a whizz-bang, you're a human being, Danny. You're all right. You're all right. You're all right. Up, UP! It's all right. It's all right.
Danny Whizz-Bang : Oh, hell. Did I do it again?
Thomas : You did it again, Danny. You gotta stop doing this, man. He's all right.
Danny Whizz-Bang : Oh God, Mr Shelby, I'm sorry.
Thomas : It's all right. You go home to your wife now, Danny.
Danny Whizz-Bang : Yeah.
Thomas : And get all that smoke and mud out of your head, eh?
Danny Whizz-Bang : Yes, Mr Shelby. I'm sorry.
Thomas : Go on.
Harry Fenton : Mr Shelby, you have to do something about him.
Freddie Thorne : Damn right, Harry. You pay the Peaky Blinders a lot of money for protection. ou're the law around here now, Tommy, aren't you? Maybe you should put a bullet in Danny Whizz-Bang's head like they do with mad horses. Maybe you'll have to put a bullet in my head someday, too.
Thomas : Bring the bill to the Peaky Blinders. We'll take care of it.
In the street of Birmingham.
Polly : Look at the gun. Recognise it?
John : Mmm. Fuck!
Polly : Get up off your arse, you mumping pig.
John : Aunt Poll, what the fuck did you do that for?
Polly : Finn was playing with this this afternoon by the cut. It was loaded. Nearly blew Ada's tits off.
John : It must have fell out of me pocket.
Polly : He said he found it on the sideboard of the betting shop. With bullets in it.
John : I... I must have been drunk.
Polly : When are you not drunk?
John : Look, Aunt Polly, I'm sorry. I'm... I'm sorry.
Polly : We'll keep this between ourselves if you swear not to leave guns lying around. Look, I know having four kids without a woman is hard, but my boot's harder. Now come on, were late.
Family meeting in the Shelby's kitchen.
Arthur : Right! I've called this family meeting because I've got some very important news. Scudboat and Lovelock got back from Belfast last night. They were buying a stallion to cover their mares. They were in a pub on the Shankhill Road yesterday, and in that pub there was a copper. Handing out these.
John : "If you're over five feet and can fight, come to Birmingham."
Arthur : They're recruiting Protestant Irishmen to come over here as Special.
Ada : To do what?
Thomas : To clean up the city, Ada. He's the Chief Inspector. The last four years, he's been clearing the IRA out of Belfast.
Arthur : How do you know so bloody much?
Thomas : 'Cause I asked the coppers on our payroll.
Arthur : And why didn't you tell me?
Thomas : I'm telling you.
Polly : So why are they sending him to Birmingham?
Thomas : Well, there's been all these bloody strikes at the BSA. And the Austin works, lately. Now the papers are talking about sedition. And revolution. I reckon it's communists he's after.
Polly : So this copper's gonna leave us alone, right?
Thomas : There are Irishmen in Green Lanes who left Belfast to get away from him. They say Catholic men who crossed him used to disappear in the night.
John : Yeah, but we ain't IRA. We bloody fought for the King. Anyway, we're Peaky Blinders. We're not scared of coppers.
Arthur : He's right.
John : If they come for us, we'll cut them a smile each.
Thomas :So, Arthur. Is that it?
Arthur : What do you think, Aunt Poll?
Polly : This family does everything open. You've nothing more to say to this meeting, Thomas?
Thomas : No. Nothing that's women's business.
Polly : This whole bloody enterprise was women's business while you boys were away at war. What's changed?
Thomas : We came back.
At nigt, in the street of Birmingham.
Jeremiah Jesus : And the Lord will smite the unholy when the great judgement comes. And judgment is coming, my friends. Judgment is coming to this wicked city. And your wickedness and your fornication will be revealed. You cannot hide from the Creator. You cannot hide from the Almighty himself. The Creator sees all. You cannot hide from the true and living God.
Man : Get out of here!
Man : Ahh!
Man : Fuck off.
Driver : That's it. I don't go any further.
In a church.
Thomas : I have ten minutes. What do you want?
Polly : An explanation. Always been able to tell when you're hiding something. People round here talk. Some of them work at the BSA. I've been talking to the wives of factory hands. Detectives have been asking questions in the proofing shops. Nothing happens in that factory without you knowing about it. Speak. God and Aunt Polly are listening.
Thomas : It was meant to be routine. I had a buyer in London for some motorcycles. I asked my men to steal me four bikes with petrol engines. I'm guessing my men were drunk. There's a still inside the factory makes tram line gin. They picked up the wrong fucking crate. The boys dropped it at Charlie Strong's yard, as agreed. Must have taken it from the proofing bay, instead of the export bay.
Curly : Holy sweet baby of Mary.
Thomas : Inside we found 25 Lewis machine guns, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 50 semi-automatic rifles, 200 pistols with shells.
Poly : Jesus, Tommy.
Thomas : All bound for Libya. Sitting right there in Charlie Strong's yard.
Polly : Tell me you threw them in the cut.
Thomas : We put them in the stables out of the rain. The guns hadn't been greased yet.
Polly : So that's why they sent a cop from Belfast?
Thomas : Maybe, maybe not.
Polly : Thomas, you're a bookmaker, a robber, a fighting man. You're not a fool. You sell those guns to anyone who has use to them, you will hang. Dump them somewhere the police can find them. Maybe if they know they haven't fallen into the wrong hands, this might blow over. Tell Charlie to dump them tonight.
Thomas : No. He won't move contraband under a full moon. Three days until it wanes.
Polly : Then you'll do the right thing? You have your mother's common sense. But your father's devilment. I see them fighting. Let your mother win.
Under a bridge.
Ada : I got tickets for the penny crush. They're showing a Tom Mix picture.
Freddie Thorne : I'm not in the mood for the pictures tonight, Ada.
Ada : Well, I'm not doing it here again. I got covered in mud last time.
Freddie Thorne : Let's just walk a bit.
Ada : If we go down as far as Greet, we could go to a pub.
Freddie Thorne : Your brothers have friends in Greet.
Ada : They have friends everywhere, we'd have to walk to London. I'm with you 'cause you're the only man round here not scared of them.
Freddie Thorne : Oh, I'm scared of them, all right.
Ada : But you love me more than you fear them, right? I don't want to be always sneaking about.
Freddie Thorne : Soon, we'll tell them.
Ada : When?
Freddie Thorne : How did the family meeting go?
Ada : Usual. There's a new copper coming.
Freddie Thorne : I heard.
Ada : Mmm. And Tommy says he's after the likes of you. So maybe you should burn your books and stop making speeches.
Freddie Thorne : Oh, my Ada. The only princess of the Royal Family of the kingdom of Small Heath. I'm just a poor communist frog with a big mouth. Give me a kiss, Princess Ada.
At the Garrison Pub.
Grace : I'm here about the job as a barmaid.
Harry Fenton : Are you mad?
Grace : Am I what?
Harry Fenton : Do you know about this place?
Grace : I saw it in an advertisement.
Harry Fenton : Job's been filled.
Grace : It was in yesterday's paper.
Harry Fenton : Believe me, love, I'm doing you a favour.
Grace : I'm not asking for favours, I'm asking for employment.
Harry Fenton : You're too...nice.
Grace : How would you know?
Harry Fenton : And too pretty. They'd have you up against a wall.
Grace : I have experience. And references.
Harry Fenton : What part of Ireland are you from?
Grace : Galway.
Harry Fenton : Oh.
Grace : I worked in Dublin.
Harry Fenton : Me mother was from Galway. You're too pretty.
Grace : Watch. And listen. [singing]
# I wish I was
# In Carrickfergus
# Only for nights
# In Ballygrand
# I would swim over
# The deepest ocean
# The deepest ocean
# My love to find
# My boyhood friends
# And my own relations
# Have all passed on now
# Like the melting snow
[talking] In Ireland... my singing made them cry and stopped them fighting.
Harry Fenton : Well, I hope you know a lot of songs.
In the police station.
Inspector Campbell : Babies discarded with the fish bones and egg shells. Girls, 11 years old, pierced and punctured by old men for thrupence a time. Rutted upon like animals. Degradation. Fathers with their daughters, brothers and sisters sharing beds. Beggars and thieves left to run in the streets. And astride the whole stinking pile of wounds and rotting flesh... your masters! The men who you touch your cap to. The Peaky Blinders! The vicious, merciless gangs who blind those that see and cut out the tongues of those who talk. You are worse than them! Those of you who have taken their bribes these years since the war. Those of you who look the other way. You are worse than them! God damn you for soiling your uniforms! And then... there are the IRA Fenians. And the communists. Blacker hearts still. They feed on the pus of all this corruption. Like maggots in a corpse. And, like maggots, if left to swell they will eventually swarm like flies and spread their rotten philosophy across the country and across the world! Those then... are our enemies. A three-headed beast. It is my job... to decapitate each one, and by God I will do it! I don't trust any of youse until you earn my trust. And that takes some earning. These are the new men who will bolster your ranks. Good men, from God-fearing families. By the time the sun sets... they will be sworn in and in uniform. And by sunrise tomorrow they will be on the streets. God help those who stand in our way!
At the cinema.
Woman : Sorry, Mr Shelby.
Arthur : Right.
Woman : Move out of the way for Mr Shelby.
Arthur : This way.
Man : Mr Shelby.
Arthur : You see, ladies, when you're out with a Blinder you don't have to queue. Right. I want a blow job off both of you before they let the ordinary people in. Away you go. Take your hat off. What the fuck! Who the fuck are you? I'm Arthur fucking Shelby!
In a unknown place.
Inspector Campbell : Arthur Shelby. Lead pack dog of the Peaky Blinders. Look at me.
Arthur : Bastard!
Inspector Campbell : Your uniform? Terrifying, I'm sure. Did he have a gun?
Sergeant Moss : No gun. Knife in his sock. Cosh in his belt.
Inspector Campbell : Now, Mr Shelby, I want you to see this as me introducing myself to you, you understand. In all the world, the only thing that interests me is the truth. What do you know about the robbery?
Arthur : What robbery?
Inspector Campbell : I will ask you again. What do you know about the robbery?
Arthur : I swear to God, I don't know what you're talking about. What fucking robbery?!
Inspector Campbell : After 35 years of dealing with animals like you, I can tell just by sniffing the air whether or not you're lying.
Arthur : I'm not fucking lying, all right? I'm not fucking lying!
Inspector Campbell : I know. I see nothing of interest behind the blood in your eyes. And no blood in your veins that could carry... even a trace of cunning or guile. But understand this. It is well within my power to have you and the rest of your scum family face down in the canal before the year is out. On the other hand... we can help each other.
At the Garrison Pub.
Grace : Is it always this busy in the day time?
Harry Fenton : Nah, these boys are on their way to St Andrews.
Grace : To pray?
Harry Fenton : That'll be the day! St Andrews is a football ground. The Blues are playing. That's the forward line there, and that's the goalie, believe it or not.
Thomas : Hello! I need a bottle of rum.
Harry Fenton : Grace, whatever it is, it's on the house.
Grace : A whole bottle?
Thomas : Yeah.
Grace : White or dark rum?
Thomas : Don't care.
Harry Fenton : Right, lads, what'll it be? Two? Thank you.
Grace : Harry said it's on the house.
Thomas : Are you a whore? 'Cause if you're not, you're in the wrong place.
Grace : He's one of them you warned me about.
Harry Fenton : Look, Grace, you're a friendly girl, but be careful. If I say something's on the house, then say nothing to whoever you're serving. If they decide that they want you, then there's nothing anybody could do about it. Lucky for you, since he got back from France, Tommy doesn't want anybody at all. Yes, lads?
In the Shelby's kitchen.
Ada : John, wipe the blood out of his eye.
John : Since when did you give orders?
Ada : I'm a trained nurse.
Arthur : Don't make me laugh. It hurts me face.
Ada : I bloody am.
John : You went to one first aid class in the church hall and got thrown out for giggling.
Ada : Not before I learned how to stop somebody from choking.
Arthur : I'm not bloody choking, am I?
Ada : You will be when I wrap this cloth round your neck.
Thomas : Let me see him. All right, have this. Give me that.
Arthur : You're all right. He said Mr Churchill sent him to Birmingham. National interest, he said. Something about a robbery. He said he wants us to help him.
John : We don't help coppers.
Arthur : He knew all about our war records. He said we're patriots. Like him. Wants us to be his eyes and ears. I said... I said we'd have a family meeting, take a vote. Well, why not? Hmm? We've no truck with Fenians or communists. What's wrong with you? What the fuck is wrong with him lately?
Polly : If I knew, I'd buy the cure from Compton's chemists.
At the Garrison Pub.
Grace [singing]
# I am just a young girl
# I have just come over
# Over from the country
# Where they do things big
# And amongst the boys
# I've got myself a lover
# And since I have a lover
# I don't care a fig
# The boy I love is up in the gallery
# The boy I love is looking at me
# Can't you see him standing there?
# Waving his handkerchief
# As merry as a robin
# That sings on the tree
Harry Fenton : We haven't had singing in here since the war.
Thomas : Why do you think that is, Harry?
In Freddy Thorne's bedroom.
Freddie Thorne : So, did Arthur say, er... what kind of a deal this new copper offered him?
Ada : God! The second your balls are empty, it's back onto politics.
Freddie Thorne : What did Tommy say?
Ada : He didn't say anything. You know what he's like.
Freddie Thorne : Yeah, I know what he's like. Likes to take his fights onto the mud. Doesn't like to stand and wait.
Ada : You know what he'd do if he found out about us?
Freddie Thorne : He could try.
Ada : Sometimes it's like you're with me just to show you can.
Freddie Thorne : One day me and Tommy will be on the same side again.
In Thomas's Bedroom. Thomas is seeing flashback from the war.
Danny Whizz-Bang : Tommy!
Thomas : Danny !
Morning, in the street of Little Italie.
Danny Whizz-Bang : Shh! They're gonna kill me!
Italien waiter : Hey, what you do? We're closed. Go home. Go home, crazy man.
Danny Whizz-Bang : They're gonna kill me!
Italien waiter : I say go home, crazy man.
Danny Whizz-Bang : They're gonna kill me!
Italien waiter : I said, go home.
Danny Whizz-Bang : Fix Bayonets !
In a carriage at the train station.
Detective : Secretary of State, this is Chief Inspector Campbell.
Inspector Campbell : Mr Churchill, sir. May I say what a great honour it is to meet you.
Winston Churchill : Bit of a whistle-stop tour. Love the hat, by the way.
Inspector Campbell : Thank you. It's beaver.
Winston Churchill : So, how are you settling in?
Inspector Campbell : I've set up a command network. I've agents in place across the city, who will act as my eyes and ears. And I've begun to interrogate suspects vigorously.
Winston Churchill : You were in Belfast. Understand you broke a few Fenian hearts.
Inspector Campbell : A rat's nest, sir.
Winston Churchill : So, who do you think stole the guns? The Fenians or the communists?
Inspector Campbell : If it is the IRA Fenians, I will find them and find the guns. If it is the communists, I will find them and find the guns. If it is common criminals, I will find them and find the guns. To me, there is no distinction between any of the above.
Winston Churchill : Now, I chose you because you're effective. But remember this, Mr Campbell, this is England, not Belfast. Bodies thrown in the rivers wash up in the papers here. You must keep the existence of these stolen guns out of the news, otherwise we are simply advertising them for sale. If there are bodies to be buried... dig holes. And dig them deep. I want everything accounted for. Down to the last bullet.
At Charlie Strong's yard.
Thomas : Uncle Charlie. A word.
Charlie Strong : They are aboard. There's no moon. We can take them out to the turning point beyond Gas Street and leave them on the bank. They'll be found by railwaymen, first thing. Is that agreement?
Thomas : I changed my mind.
Charlie Strong : You what?
Thomas : I've an alternative strategy. Tell Curly to take her out to the old tobacco wharf. There's a lock-up mooring we used to keep cigarettes. He knows it. When the boat leaves your yard, it's no longer your concern.
Charlie Strong : Have you lost your fucking mind? Have you not seen the streets? They've sent a fucking army to find these things.
Thomas : That's right. They've shown their hand.
Charlie Strong : Their hand?
Thomas : If they want them back this bad, they'll have to pay. That's the way of the world. Fortune drops something valuable into your lap, you don't just dump it on the bank of the cut.
Charlie Strong : You're blood, Tommy. I've always looked out for you like a dad. You're going to bring holy hell down on your head. This copper takes no prisoners.
Thomas : I'm told he didn't serve. Reserved occupation.
Charlie Strong : Is it another war you're looking for, Tommy?
Thomas : The tobacco wharf. By order of the Peaky Blinders.
In a museum.
Inspector Campbell : Are you in position?
Grace : I am, sir.
Inspector Campbell : First impressions?
Grace : I'm quite shocked at how these people live. Have you found anything out that might help me?
Inspector Campbell : I interrogated the head of the Peaky Blinders. He didn't know anything. A brute.
Grace : It strikes me that it isn't Arthur who heads the Shelby family. It's the younger one. Thomas. They say he won two medals for gallantry in the war.
Inspector Campbell : You sound fascinated.
Grace : However, my opinion has not changed. The bookmaker gangs have other business and the communists are too weak to have planned this. I believe the guns were taken by the IRA.
Inspector Campbell : You must not let your personal history cloud your judgement.
Grace : What history? That the IRA murdered my father will not affect my judgement.
Inspector Campbell : If you see any guns, check the serial numbers against that list. Your father... was the finest officer I ever worked with. I know he'd be very, very proud of you.
Grand Union Canal.
Thomas : Danny, as you know, the man you killed was Italian. Those two men over there are his brothers. If I let the Italians do this, Danny, they'll cut off your manhood and let you drain. That's how those bastards do things. So, to stop a war breaking out between us and the Italians, to save you from their barbarity, I said I would dispatch you myself. They're here to witness.
Danny Whizz-Bang : I died over there anyway, Tommy. I left my fucking brains in the mud.
Thomas : Do you have any last requests, comrade?
Danny Whizz-Bang : You look out for my Rosie and my boys. See they get apprenticeships. At the BSA factory or the Austin. And they'll make foremen, I know they will. Just...ordinary. Just ordinary men. And they won't get told to do this shit. This shit... This shit that we got told to do! I suppose I ought to pray now. Those fucking guns, they blew God right outta me head. Is that boat for me?
Thomas : We have to get your body out of the city, Danny. This new copper, you know.
Danny Whizz-Bang : Don't bury me anywhere there's mud. Okay? Promise me. Bury me on a hill, and tell Rosie where.
Thomas : You're a good man, and a good soldier.
Danny Whizz-Bang : Yes, Sergeant Major.
Thomas : In the bleak mid-winter...
In the betting shop at night.
Arthur : Where are ya? It bloody won. Monaghan Boy bloody won!
Thomas : Yeah. It won. And word will spread. So the next time we do the powder trick, it won't be just a garrison that'll bet on the horse. It'll be the whole of Small Heath. And you know what? The horse will win again. And the third time we do it we'll have the whole of Birmingham betting on it. A thousand-quid bet on the magic horse. And that time... when we are ready... the horse will lose. Think about it.
A tunnel on Canal Tow Path at night.
Charlie Strong : You okay, Danny?
Danny Whizz-Bang : I'm still in shock. Are you sure this isn't heaven?
Charlie Strong : If it was heaven, what would I be doing here? Tommy wanted you to think it was real. Try and knock some sense into you.
Danny Whizz-Bang : A shell full of sheep brains hurts pretty bad.
Charlie Strong : Aye, it was meant to.
Danny Whizz-Bang : So, where are you taking me?
Charlie Strong : London. Tommy has a little job for you. Give you a chance to say thanks. You're a Peaky Blinder now, Danny.
In the Shelby house at night.
Polly : Bad week? Heard there was no moon last night. I checked. Did you do the right thing?
Thomas : Yes, I did the right thing.
[End]
