Who dies in Peaky Blinders? Every major death from series 1 to 6

Grace, John, Polly, Ruby, Michael — few dramas have killed off major characters at this rate. Here's every death that matters, series by series.

Every major death, series by series

• Billy Kimber — the racecourse boss shot dead by Tommy in the series 1 finale. The Shelbys' first big scalp.
• Freddie Thorne — Ada's husband dies of the "pestilence" off-screen; his funeral opens series 2.
• Danny Whizz-Bang — his series 1 "execution" was staged by Tommy; the real death comes in the series 2 finale, during the Epsom Derby operation.
• Grace Shelby — shot at a charity dinner in series 3 by an assassin sent by Vicente Changretta, days after marrying Tommy. Vicente and his son Angel die in the retaliation.
• John Shelby — gunned down at his farmhouse by Luca Changretta's men in the series 4 opener, a Mafia vendetta for the Changretta killings.
• Luca Changretta — shot by Arthur in the series 4 finale. Arthur's own "death" earlier that series was faked.
• Bonnie Gold — crucified by the Billy Boys in series 5; his father Aberama is stabbed at the Mosley rally in the finale.
• Colonel Ben Younger — Ada's lover, killed by a car bomb in series 5.
• Barney Thomason — Tommy's sniper, shot at that same rally as the assassination plan collapses.
• Polly Gray — executed by the IRA after the botched Mosley plot; her death is revealed in the series 6 opener.
• Ruby Shelby — Tommy and Lizzie's seven-year-old daughter dies of tuberculosis midway through series 6.
• Michael Gray — shot by Tommy in the final episode of series 6.

The warning that came true

Polly saw it coming. In the series 5 finale (2019), she told Tommy and Michael exactly how this would end:

"There will be a war in this family. And one of you will die."

Michael's death in the last episode made good on it. Polly's own exit was written under the saddest circumstances — Helen McCrory died of cancer on 16 April 2021, before series 6 filmed, so Polly was killed off-screen and the final series was dedicated to her.

Does Tommy Shelby die?

Not in the series. The tuberculoma diagnosis that haunts him through series 6 turns out to be a lie planted by Dr Holford on behalf of the fascists. Tommy spares the doctor, burns his wagon, and rides off on a white horse. Alive.

What about the film?

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man reached Netflix on 20 March 2026 and closes Tommy's story for good. Set during the Blitz of 1940, it reveals that Arthur has died before the film's events, in December 1938 — and it ends with a mortally wounded Tommy asking his son Duke to shoot him. He dies reciting the first line of "In the Bleak Midwinter", the poem that has soundtracked Shelby executions since the very first series.