Peaky Blinders is the Tommy Shelby show 90% of the time, but there are certain side characters that really bring the show to life, sometimes even stealing scenes from Cillian Murphy himself. Alfie Solomons, played by Tom Hardy, is one such character. He was such a fan favourite that Hardy managed to persuade Knight to bring him back for the fifth and sixth seasons of the show, despite seemingly being killed at the end of the fourth.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Knight reveals that there was an idea initially to keep Alfie dead, but still have those scenes in place. During Seasons 5 and 6, whenever Tommy and Alfie speak, they do so only with each other. The idea, as you can probably guess, was to have the movie The Immortal Man reveal that Alfie was dead the whole time, appearing to Tommy as just another figment of his imagination, like his late wife Grace.
"I had an idea, which I haven't really spoken about. Ever since he was shot on the beach at Margate [in season four], you've only ever seen Tommy and Alfie together alone. I thought, Maybe [Alfie] appears, and we realize he's been dead all that time. Now, I nearly did that, and I didn't do it, but that was a thought," Knight explained.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is full of twists and turns throughout the film's runtime, so perhaps this one would've been too much for our brains to handle. Either way, it's an interesting idea, one that's sure to fuel fan theories for years to come.