The city, where the 1920s drama is set, has been hit by knife crime. Packy urged: “Please don’t relive the television as a Tommy or Arthur. “We know it’s a gang, we know it’s violence, but we’re also very supportive of that not going any further than the television. “We’re against the fact that people think they’re Tommy Shelby or Arthur in real life. We’re asking you to enjoy the television and not to try to relive the television. Just enjoy it.”
Packy, whose character is involved in an explosive ending to the BBC One show’s fifth series tonight, said he did not believe Peaky Blinders fuelled real-life violence.
He said: “We’re more in favour of the creativity of the show and violence we’re portraying is based on Steven’s [series creator Steven Knight] story from 100 years ago. Not now in the age of iPhones.
“We’re basically, ‘Cameras up, knives down’. That’s us.”
West Midlands Police said: “We do have knife crime in the area but we haven’t had any reports of Peaky Blinders copycats.”