"We all try and get away," says the voice of Helen McCrory's Polly Gray in a downbeat, mournful trailer for Peaky Blinders series five. "But we never do."

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That sets the tone for the new series, which is "coming soon" to BBC1 (after much anticipation) and is billed with the line: "Power comes at a price." Tommy Shelby is now a wealthy businessman and an MP – but can he and his family ever escape their past? The violence, the dangerous enemies, the dirty money, the psychological scars of war?

The first-look serves up Sam Claflin as fascist politician Sir Oswald Mosley MP, giving a sinister and unnerving performance. "Mr Shelby. You've come to my attention," he says with a smile as he approaches Tommy at Westminster – but later we see him truly in action, rallying his supporters as he yells: "England lives tonight and marches on!"

The minute-long clip gives us a glimpse of what's to come for the Shelbys – and it doesn't look like fun and games. As Anna Calvi and David Byrne's track Strange Weather swells in the background, we see explosions and shootings and Ada crying and Polly tearfully clutching a gun.

There's also a glimpse of a glamorous Anya Taylor-Joy on the arm of Michael Gray (Finn Cole). Her character has yet to be revealed – but could Michael have found himself a love interest?

As for Tommy, he looks deeply troubled; sombre-faced but frantic, at one point drenched in sweat as the camera spins him upside-down, and the next crouched in a barren field with a gun slung over his shoulder.

"There is God. And there are the Peaky Blinders," he says over the opening of the video. "We own the ropes. Who's gonna hang us now, eh?" But the answer comes from Ada Shelby (Sophie Rundle): "No one is gonna hang you, Tommy. You're gonna hang yourself."

"Sometimes, death is a kindness," Tommy's voice says as the video fades out.

Just how dark will Peaky Blinders go in series five?

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Peaky Blinders is "coming soon" to BBC1

Authors

Eleanor Bley GriffithsDrama Editor, RadioTimes.com
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