10 Shows Like Peaky Blinders to Watch Next
Posted inMovies & Series

10 Shows Like Peaky Blinders to Watch Next

10 Shows Like Peaky Blinders to Watch Next

Key takeaways

  • Boardwalk Empire is the most direct place to start for a sprawling crime saga with a historical setting.
  • Taboo suits viewers drawn to Peaky Blinders’ bleak atmosphere and dangerous central character.
  • Gangs of London is a modern crime drama built around rival criminal groups and struggles for power in the British capital.
  • The best next watch depends on which part of Peaky Blinders you want to carry forward.

Table of contents

If you’re looking for shows like Peaky Blinders, start with Boardwalk Empire for period gangster politics, Taboo for a dark historical antihero, or Gangs of London for modern British gang warfare. Each offers a different part of the appeal: criminal ambition, family loyalties, dangerous rivalries or a vividly realized world.

Peaky Blinders is a post-First World War crime drama set in Birmingham, where the Shelby family builds its influence amid shifting alliances and violence. The BBC describes the series as a story set in the years after the war. Not every crime drama is a close substitute, though. The picks below are grouped by what they share with the series—and what makes them different.

The closest matches for period gangster drama

1. Boardwalk Empire

For a sprawling crime saga with a historical setting, Boardwalk Empire is the most direct place to start. It follows criminal and political power struggles in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, trading postwar Birmingham for a coastal American world shaped by bootlegging.

The overlap is the scale: both shows are interested in how criminal organizations gain influence, negotiate alliances and compete for control. The setting and cultural context are quite different, so expect a period gangster drama rather than a Shelby-family counterpart. It’s a particularly good choice if you liked watching the business and politics of crime expand beyond the street level. TVLine also highlights it as a strong pick for Peaky Blinders fans.

2. Taboo

Taboo suits viewers drawn to Peaky Blinders’ bleak atmosphere and dangerous central character. Set in early-19th-century London, it centers on James Delaney, a man who returns to England and becomes entangled in a struggle over his inheritance and powerful interests.

There’s a notable creative connection: Taboo was co-created by Steven Knight, who also created Peaky Blinders, and stars Tom Hardy, who played Alfie Solomons in the crime drama. That doesn’t make the shows identical. Taboo is stranger and more brooding, with a different historical period and a more isolated protagonist. Choose it for the mood, intrigue and antihero—not for a repeat of the Shelby family’s rise. Entertainment coverage has noted the connection and its appeal to fans of the series.

3. A Thousand Blows

A Thousand Blows moves the action to 1880s London and the underground boxing world. Its historical setting, violent competition and focus on people struggling to gain power make it a natural option for viewers who want another period drama with grit and ambition.

The match is thematic rather than exact: its world is shaped by boxing and its own criminal pressures, not the same family-centered gang politics as Peaky Blinders. It’s worth considering if you want historical conflict and characters trying to make their way in a dangerous environment. TVLine and Yahoo Entertainment include it among recommendations for viewers seeking a similar mix of period setting and crime and historical grit.

For modern gang rivalries and crime families

4. Gangs of London

If the gang conflict matters more to you than the period setting, try Gangs of London. It’s a modern crime drama built around rival criminal groups and struggles for power in the British capital.

This is a better pick for viewers who want tense gangland conflict than for those seeking the historical atmosphere of Peaky Blinders. The era is contemporary, but the focus on criminal factions and the consequences of shifting power makes the comparison easy to understand. Yahoo Entertainment and TVLine both identify it as a recommendation for fans of Peaky Blinders and modern gang drama.

5. The Sopranos

Choose The Sopranos for a more psychological take on organized crime. Its central figure balances a criminal life with pressures at home, making family and personal conflict as important as the business of crime.

The resemblance to Peaky Blinders lies in the complicated relationship between private life and criminal power. The difference is in the tone and focus: The Sopranos is a contemporary character study, known for dark humor and close attention to its protagonist’s inner life, rather than a historical saga of a family building its reach. If what you liked most was watching a crime boss manage both loyalty and personal strain, this is a strong choice. The Cinemaholic’s recommendations also point to its family dynamics and central crime figure.

6. Kin

Kin is a modern Irish crime-family drama. It’s a sensible pick if you want to stay with family loyalty, gang conflict and the tensions that arise when a family is involved in organized crime—but don’t need a historical backdrop.

That makes it a closer match in its family-and-crime framework than in its setting or style. Try it when the Shelby family’s internal relationships mattered more to you than the period costumes and postwar Birmingham atmosphere. Yahoo Entertainment recommends it among crime dramas with a family focus.

7. Sons of Anarchy

In Sons of Anarchy, the criminal group is an outlaw motorcycle club rather than a historical street gang. The series centers on loyalty, internal power struggles and the consequences of trying to protect a close-knit organization.

Its appeal to Peaky Blinders fans is the tight group dynamic and the way criminal choices affect personal bonds. The subculture and modern setting make it a distinct experience, so it’s not the pick for period style. Go with it if you want a long-running crime saga where loyalty is constantly tested. The Cinemaholic and Yahoo Entertainment both suggest it for viewers drawn to crime, family and group conflict in Peaky Blinders.

For family jeopardy and escalating criminal stakes

8. Ozark

Ozark is a modern crime thriller about a family drawn into money laundering for a cartel. It doesn’t share Peaky Blinders’ historical setting or British gangland world; the connection is the way criminal involvement reshapes family life and raises the stakes over time.

It’s a good option if you want a family caught in an increasingly dangerous criminal situation. It’s a looser match if your favorite part of Peaky Blinders was its period atmosphere or the rise of a single gang. TVLine includes it among shows that may appeal to fans through their crime and family pressures.

9. Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom is another contemporary family-crime story, focused on a teenager who moves in with relatives led by a criminal matriarch. Its strongest link to Peaky Blinders is the family’s entanglement in crime and the strain that creates within the group.

The setup is different from the Shelbys’ story, and it doesn’t offer the same historical backdrop. But if you want a crime drama where family ties and criminal operations are closely connected, it belongs on your list. The Cinemaholic highlights its criminal family dynamic as a point of comparison.

A looser match for historical atmosphere

10. Godless

Godless is a Western miniseries, not a gangster drama. Its connection to Peaky Blinders is looser: both place morally complicated characters in violent historical worlds, but the genre, setting and central conflicts are different.

Consider it if you’re open to leaving crime-family stories behind while keeping the appeal of a distinctive period setting and a harsh environment. It’s not the closest substitute, but it may work for viewers who value atmosphere and character conflict as much as gang politics. The Cinemaholic includes it as a historical, morally complex alternative.

Which show should you watch first?

  • For the closest period gangster feel: Boardwalk Empire
  • For a dark historical antihero: Taboo
  • For another historical story shaped by violence and ambition: A Thousand Blows
  • For modern British gang conflict: Gangs of London
  • For crime-family psychology: The Sopranos
  • For family loyalty and criminal escalation: Kin, Sons of Anarchy, Ozark or Animal Kingdom
  • For a historical drama outside the crime genre: Godless

The best next watch depends on which part of Peaky Blinders you want to carry forward. Pick Boardwalk Empire for criminal politics in a period setting, Taboo for a darker historical mood, or Gangs of London if you mainly want gang rivalries. If family conflict is the draw, The Sopranos is a better fit than a show that only shares the gangster label.