Peaky Blinders star Kate Phillips has teased what's to come for her character Linda Shelby in the show's upcoming fifth season.
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, she revealed that Linda is going to continue to be "a thorn in [brother-in-law] Tommy's side", as she challenges his – and husband Arthur's – "authoritarian influence over the family".
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As Tommy (Cillian Murphy) is off in London, Arthur, who is now Chairman of the Board of the Shelby Company Limited, has had to step up and assume more responsibility in regards to the business.
"This does not sit well with Linda," Phillips explained. "She sees the advantage that he's not taking and that's where you see this power-hungry attitude come out of her. She sees that she can manipulate Arthur.
"It's just not working for her and she keeps being shut down by Tommy, so something has to change. That's when she goes back into her – I think she shocks herself into seeing she's gone too far – and she kind of retreats back to her Quaker ways to get support and guidance."
While she's desperately trying to gain power within her inner circles, Phillips insisted that Linda still "holds onto this need to be good, and to help and protect Arthur and save her family really".
"There's a lot of love there, that they still share and I think she's trying to savour that," she added. "I think that's the Quaker in her. That's what creates a really amazing conflict for her; this overwhelming desire to be good and but also, fury erupts out of her."
Peaky Blinders season 5 returns to BBC One on Sunday, August 25 at 9pm.
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Laurence Mozafari (he/him) is a multi-award winning journalist, editor, and presenter. A former Editor-in-Chief of Digital Spy, Laurence previously held roles as the site's Editor, Deputy Editor, and Associate Editor focusing on news, social, and video. Laurence hosted the BBC Sounds podcast Obsessed with Peaky Blinders in 2019. He also hosts his own podcast production, Time of My Life, where he interviews fascinating elders about their life lessons, including Only Fools and Horses' Sir David Jason, Star Trek’s George Takei and Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh.
Laurence was named Editorial Director – Youth Audience at Reach in early 2025. Prior to joining Digital Spy, he was previously at Bauer Media working as Digital Editor of Heat magazine's website Heatworld.com, and has also worked at and written for Sky, NME, Q magazine, Grazia, Closer, FHM and dedicated careers website GoThinkBig. He secured a first-class BA journalism degree at Staffordshire University, along with several NCTJ qualifications, and now has 14 years' experience in digital publishing covering TV, movies, music, gaming, tech, showbiz, and travel.
Laurence has been a broadcasting contributor on television and radio, including KISS, Heat Radio, BBC Radio London, Radio 5 Live, and BBC Breakfast.
He is also a visiting lecturer at various universities teaching journalism, including City, University of London, Nottingham Trent, Staffordshire University and London Metropolitan. Laurence has won numerous awards in his journalism career, including the BSME Talent Award’s Best Deputy Editor, the PPA's 30 Under 30, and the New Editor and Editor of the Year at the AOP and BSMEs. He led Digital Spy to win PPA's Digital Content Team of the Year twice, along with the British Media Awards’ Brand of the Year in 2021.
Laurence joined the committee for the British Society of Magazine Editors in 2022 and was named vice-chair in 2025. He has since hosted panels with CEOs of Immediate Media and the Media Trust at the PPA Festival, as well as presenting his own radio show on Green Man Radio at Green Man Festival in 2022. Laurence is also a Brits voting academy member.
Laurence has been lucky enough to interview numerous celebrities, actors, and musicians throughout his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger loved his hair, Jimmy Carr loved his coat and Antonio Banderas gave a shout-out to his mum. Laurence has covered set visits for The Witcher on Netflix and Marvel’s Inhumans, he got Daisy Ridley to do a Chewbacca impression and loves Marvel, PlayStation, Glastonbury and craft beer. Linkedin
