BILLY Elliot star Jamie Bell is joining Peaky Blinders as the new head of the notorious Shelby family.
The Hollywood actor has been cast in the role for the next series of the hit BBC and Netflix crime drama.
He will play Erasmus “Duke” Shelby, illegitimate son of ruthless mobster Tommy (series regular Cillian Murphy).
Teesside-born Jamie, 40, takes over from Barry Keoghan, who was Duke in Peaky Blinders film The Immortal Man, released last month.
Jamie shot to fame as ballet dancer Billy Elliot in the 2000 drama. The new Blinders series continues in 1950s Birmingham. Jamie will be joined by Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown-Findlay, 38, and Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton, 32.
Bafta-winning Lashana Lynch, who played the first black female 007 agent, Nomi, in the James Bond film No Time to Die, is reported to be involved.
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Details of the roles are still under wraps but the big names bring some major star power to the “next generation” of the Shelby story.
Stephen Knight’s critically- acclaimed series is returning with two sequel series, the first in more than four years.
It will introduce viewers to a whole new gang of Shelbys, who will be causing havoc on the cobblestoned streets.
The timeline of the sequel will pick up from the feature film, which was released in cinemas and on Netflix last month.
Knight said recently: “I’m thrilled to be announcing this new chapter in the Peaky Blinders story. Once again it will be rooted in Birmingham and will tell the story of a city rising from the ashes of the Blitz.
“The new generation of Shelbys have taken the wheel, and it will be a hell of a ride.”
The Peaky Blinders sequel will include two new six-episode seasons and is due to air first on the BBC in mid to late 2027.
It follows the original series, which started in 2014 and concluded with season six in 2022, and the film.
Set against the backdrop of a heavily bombed Birmingham after World War II, the race to take claim over the city’s reconstruction project becomes a brutal, bloodsoaked contest.
Filming kicked off in Stoke-on-Trent last month.