There’s a hint of guilt and self-loathing: ‘ My God, Tommy Shelby, is that regret?’ asks Ada (Sophie Rundle), half joke, half observation. His conflict is clear, subtly delivered by a nuanced line or a loaded look. It’s not fair to say he carries the show, because there are so many brilliant performances (Paul Anderson and Helen McCrory particularly), but Tommy is the anchor and as the show grows in emotional complexity, so does he. Tension simmers from the off, quiet moments of reflection – even humour – contrasting with suspense and brutal violence. It must have been tempting to take the action to America, but writer Steven Knight goes against the ‘bigger is better’ tendency of TV screenwriters to return to the world we know and love – a move that proves his determination to keep the show focused on his own home town. This threat brings the family back together, forcing them to retreat to Small Heath in a desperate bid for survival. Played by Adrian Brody with quiet menace, I suspect he’ll provide an intriguing counterpart to Tommy’s intense, brooding presence and give us a convincingly chilling bad guy after the histrionics of Sabini and the crazy Russians. Luca is a dangerous man – a soldier for the Sicilian mafia, with links to Tommy’s old enemy, Darby Sabini – and he’s out for revenge. The crunch comes in the form of Luca Changretta, scion of Vicente Changretta, the Italian boss murdered by the Shelby boys in Season 3.

As Michael says, ‘ We’re not the Peaky Blinders unless we’re together.’ While Michael still follows in Tommy’s footsteps at the Shelby Company, John is busy playing the country squire, Arthur, now well and truly under Linda’s thumb, is attempting half-hearted domestic bliss, and Polly, dependant on medication and booze, is in the throes of existential and emotional crisis. Tommy is living a bleak, lonely existence of self-imposed estrangement, tormented by his demons. Sure enough, a year later we find the Shelbys divided. Their predicament is dealt with swiftly and neatly, but not before some heart-stopping moments that will have devastating consequences. The new season picks up where we left off, in typically dramatic fashion, with Arthur, Polly and co. The extraordinary finale closed on a cliffhanger, with key members of the Shelby family arrested on murder charges. The whole Russian storyline, with its old world symbolism, gave Tommy access to privilege, power and wealth, but with catastrophic results. Season 3 of Peaky Blinders was about Tommy’s attempt to do just that.

‘ Back where you belong,’ replies Johnny Dogs (Packy Lee) – he knows, as do we, that Tommy can’t escape his roots. ‘ We’re going back … back to Small Heath,’ says a blood-spattered Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), in the opening episode of Peaky Blinders, Season 4.

Peaky blinders season 4 episode 4