Rolling out the red carpet in Birmingham

This week sees the return of the second series of Peaky Blinders to BBC Two at 9pm on Thursday with the Shelby family of Birmingham expanding their empire as the 1920s begin to roar.

To honour the return of this multi award-winning series, BBC Birmingham rolled out the red carpet for a star studded event, where we hosted the World Premiere of BBC Two’s multi award winning series Peaky Blinders.

Cast members including Cillian Murphy and Helen McCrory and Birmingham-born writer Steven Knight were overwhelmed by the welcome from hundreds of Birmingham fans, many of whom had donned Peaky Blinder flat caps and waist coats (minus the razor blades of course!) to cheer them on down the red carpet at Cineworld on Broad Street.

The response to the first series, particularly in the Midlands has been incredible with audiences in this region almost trebling the national average.

As part of the World Premiere, 75 pairs of tickets were offered to fans and the BBC Shows & Tours website was inundated with people registering to attend the special event – with over 8,500 applying for tickets. The 150 or so who were lucky enough to rub shoulders with the cast and crew were treated to a sneak preview of the first episode.

Riveting performances, stunning photography and a compelling script by local hero Steven Knight are the hallmark of what promises to be a cranking up of the story of Thomas Shelby and the expansion of the gang’s empire.

Birmingham audiences have really embraced the series. Thousands of people attended the auditions in Digbeth last year, the exhibition about the real Peaky Blinders staged at the Library of Birmingham, had a foot fall of thousands and Birmingham City FC put on a ‘Peaky Blinders day’, where fans attended the match dressed in their finest Peaky Blinders threads with the club bar transformed into The Garrison, the notorious Peaky Blinders watering hole and base of operations.

Our audiences are drawn to stories that reflect their locality – whether it is fact or fiction, viewers want their part of the world to be seen and heard. In recent years, more dramas are being made outside of London and further North such as the brilliant and heart-warming Marvellous screened on BBC Two last week and made in Stoke. Further north we’ve had the likes of Happy Valley, The Village and In The Flesh. Having programmes made and reflecting all parts of the UK is vital because they showcase the country to the wider world too.

Peaky Blinders isn’t the only time UK-wide audiences will see our city on the BBC this year. On BBC Two at the moment you can find Life in the Fast Lane, featuring this stretch of the M6 and the landmark Spaghetti Junction.

Later this autumn, Sparkhill’s Mr Khan returns to BBC One in the popular sitcom Citizen Khan, and then later this year a team based in Birmingham have been filming a poignant and moving documentary series featuring the Chaplaincy service at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Drama remains an important part of the DNA of BBC Birmingham.

Our Drama Village in Selly Oak produces over 120 hours of BBC One drama every year - including Doctors and Father Brown, which stars Mark Williams and is a hit all over the world. Also made here in Birmingham is WPC 56 which returns in the New Year and the recently announced news of the BBC Drama Village’s latest commission The Coroner which goes into production early next year. It’s a fantastic gateway for the production teams to hone their skills, craft and creativity.

Radio Drama is also central to the BBC’s offering in Birmingham, with The Archers and the recently launched Home Front on BBC Radio Four having dedicated teams based at the BBC’s base in the city.

At the Q&A following the Peaky Blinders world premiere screening, Steven Knight talked passionately to the audience about the power of storytelling and how the inspiration for the series came from stories he heard growing up in Small Heath.

It’s some of these insights that Steven will share on 6 October as part of a master-class where he will be meeting with members of the Writers’ Guild, the Royal Television Society and BBC staff and taking part in a Q&A session with Will Trotter, Executive Producer at the BBC Drama Village in Birmingham.

Later that evening on 6 October Steven will be at the Birmingham Literature Festival in conversation with Tim Stimpson. They’ll be talking about the new series of Peaky Blinders plus Steven’s ambitions for Birmingham and the West Midlands. This event is one of many partnerships between the West Midlands’ branch of the Writers Guild and Writing West Midlands: more details are available on the official Birmingham Literature Festival box office site.

Additionally, the BBC Academy, who are relocating to BBC Birmingham in 2015, is holding a networking event for freelancers in the region in conjunction with Creative Skillset with Steven Knight taking part in the workshop entitled ‘Get Your Next Job in TV Drama’.

Tommy Nagra is Head of Business Development, BBC Birmingham.

• Peaky Blinders will be broadcast on BBC Two on Thursday 2 October
• Read about Stoke based drama 'Marvellous' on the TV blog.
• See more blogs about BBC Birmingham by Tommy Nagra.