PEAKY Blinders fans eagerly awaiting the show’s return will not get to see the late Helen McCrory in her role as Aunt Polly.
I can reveal she did not get the chance to appear in any scenes playing the “queen” of the Shelby clan.
Filming was halted in March 2020 due to Covid and resumed last January, although Helen, who died of breast cancer aged 52 in April, couldn’t take part.
The drama’s creators had to rewrite vast sections of the final series. Now the broadcast date has been pushed back in the BBC schedules by several more weeks due to the hold-up, plus Covid has delayed post-production.
A spokeswoman said: “Helen did not film with us in series six but Polly is an ever-present part of the show.
“She is forever the matriarch of the Shelby family and her presence is always felt by Tommy and the rest of the family. Her influence is an integral part of the season.”
Polly was due to have an even bigger part than normal in the story of the gang led by Tommy, played by Cillian Murphy.
Helen’s role as Polly Gray, which she had from the first series in 2013, helped to make her a household name and a favourite with Peaky viewers.
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She was last seen playing Polly in series five in 2019, and the actress’s final TV role was in the autumn of 2020, portraying Prime Minister Dawn Ellison opposite Hugh Laurie in the BBC political drama Roadkill.
Helen’s absence in the sixth series is a tragedy.
But we still have the memories of how brilliant she was in the first five.
SHERIDAN MOVED BY MUM ROLE
ACTRESS Sheridan Smith has revealed how emotional it was playing a mum since becoming a parent in real life.
In upcoming ITV drama No Return, she stars as Kathy, who has to fight to get her son out of prison and bring him home after a family holiday goes horribly wrong.
Sheridan gave birth to son Billy in May 2020, although she separated from his father, insurance broker Jamie Horn, last year.
She said: “I’ve played mums before I had Billy but it’s totally different now. There’s an overwhelming feeling when you have a child – and I really feel it. This drama is every family’s worst nightmare and I really related to it.”
MEGAN’S BREAST IN SHOW
HAVING already made documentaries about male and female genitalia, Channel 4 is turning its attention to women’s chests.
New show The Story Of Breasts, which is due to air this year, sees women talk about their boobs – and all the joy and pain that comes with them.
Among the guests is Love Islander and Towie cast member Megan Barton Hanson, who seems so fixated on her own chest, she had a gold replica made of it.
Director Elizabeth Sankey said: “Making this film was such a joy.
“I loved going through hundreds of films and TV shows to find the most iconic, bizarre and bodacious breast moments ever committed to screen.”
I hope they include the time Judy Finniganexposed herself live on TV at the National Television Awards.
MADE IN HELL
THE new series of BBC Three’s Celebrity Eating With My Ex starts on February 1 and includes Kori Sampson from Too Hot To Handle, Maeva D'Ascanio and Miles Nazaire from Made In Chelsea, and Chloe Brockett and Harry Lee from Towie.
JACK SICK OF LITTLE WILLY JIBE
JACK Whitehall has laid into his dad for constantly belittling his “microscopic willy” on TV.
The comic and team member on A League Of Their Own told the Manatomy podcast that his dad Michael, a former celebrity agent and sometimes co-star, teases him.
Jack said he continually ridicules him about how his brother Barnaby “inherited the family jewels” rather than him.
Jack, who has moved on to the big screen with roles in films such as Jungle Cruise and Clifford The Big Red Dog, added: “He’s obsessed with talking about my penis.
“He just says anything that he knows will wrangle with me.
“Overnight the joke suddenly became about how I had a tiny penis and my brother has this massive appendage, that he’s inherited from my father.”
You don’t expect that from a family member.
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