BAFTA viewers react to “bizarre” ‘Peaky Blinders’ dance

13 May, 2024

Rambert Dance's "Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby"

BAFTA TV awards viewers have shared their mixed reactions to a Peaky Blinders dance during this year’s ceremony.

The awards took place yesterday evening (May 12), with shows Happy Valley, Top Boy and The Sixth Commandment walking away as the big winners of the evening.

However, as part of the ceremony, dance troupe Rambert performed a tribute to Peaky Blinders from their touring show The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, featuring Nick Cave‘s theme song ‘Red Right Hand’ and dancers wearing the show’s trademark hats.

Viewers at home had a somewhat mixed response to the performance, however, one writing on X (formerly Twitter): “What was that Peaky Blinders ‘dance'[?].”

“What did my eyes just watch, that Peaky Blinders dance was sooo cringe. I need Cillian [Murphy’]s live reaction to it,” another added, while a third said: “Peaky Blinders themed dance piece there on the BAFTAs, nice of them to include something for absolutely God knows who.”

However, there were some positive reactions, one person saying: “Fantastic Peaky Blinders dance to great music.”

This year’s BAFTAs were hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, with Succession and Happy Valley leading the nominations going into the ceremony.

The latter BBC series took home two awards, including Best Actress for Sarah Lancashire and Memorable Moment. Top Boy won Best Drama Series and Best Supporting Actress for Jasmine Jobson, while The Sixth Commandment won Best Limited Drama and Best Actor for Timothy Spall.

Other winners included Succession‘s Matthew Macfadyen for Best Supporting Actor, Mawaan Rizwan for Best Male Comedy Performance for Juice, Joe Lycett for Best Entertainment Performance for his show Late Night Lycett, and the evening’s hosts for Best Comedy Entertaiment Programme for their series Rob and Romesh vs….

In other news, Peaky Blinders is currently gearing up for a film version, which is due to start filming later this year and will see star Cillian Murphy return as Tommy Shelby.

The film will follow on from the show’s final series, which concluded in 2022, and will be set during the Second World War.

The post BAFTA viewers react to “bizarre” ‘Peaky Blinders’ dance appeared first on NME.