This British TV Show Is The Best Thing You're Not Watching

For the uninitiated, allow me to introduce you to Peaky Blinders. Think of it like Boardwalk Empire, but set in central England. We're talking family loyalty, forbidden love, gang violence, hidden spies, and illegal gambling, set to a backdrop of industrial development around the dark and dirty canals of Birmingham. It's bonkers, and it's brilliant.

Even if you haven't yet mastered the art of understanding the "Brummie" accent so you can work out what's going on, Peaky Blinders is a joy to look at. The cinematography is akin to a Hollywood movie, not a TV drama. Slow-motion moments, sweeping one-shot scenes, and incredible use of color all add to the atmosphere.

Well, what I've seen of it from behind my sofa cushion, anyway.

So often mixing modern music with historical settings doesn't work, but the Peaky Blinders soundtrack shows that this can be brilliant when it's done well. Heavy on the Nick Cave (including the title theme "Red Right Hand") with a sprinkling of The White Stripes, Tom Waits, Arctic Monkeys, and PJ Harvey, the atmospheric soundtrack is worth a listen even if you don't watch the show.

Newboy caps, undercuts hairstyles, places in the UK that aren't London . . . Let's be honest, none of these things were known for being cool before this show hit our screens. I'm almost disappointed I spent the last 10 years slowly removing all trace of a similar accent from my voice. Brummies (slang for Birmingham residents) rule once more.

Excellent casting has led viewers to love the ladies of Peaky Blinders as much as the men. Helen McCrory's family matriarch, Aunt Pol, steals every scene she's in. Meanwhile, the love interests, including Annabelle Wallis and Charlotte Riley, have strong storylines that involve more than the occasional sex scene.

I've laughed during Peaky Blinders as many times as I've gasped.The Birmingham in-jokes ("I talked to God; he said he doesn't do Small Heath") may be lost on non-locals, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The jokes may not lead the show, but they definitely make it.

While Cillian Murphy may be the star, it's Paul Anderson's enduring performance as his brother Arthur that will stay with you. His story arc will take you round a difficult loop of hate-pity-adoration-hate-despair-pity. It's heartbreaking and frustrating in equal measures.

Spoiler alert! Tom Hardy's swaggering London gangster Alfie Solomons is such a brilliantly exaggerated creation that it's almost a blessing he's only in one a handful of episodes (he joins in series two). I need time to recover between each appearance. To say he's having fun in this role would be an understatement. He's reveling in every single moment.

"I once carried out my own form of stigmata on an Italian. Hammered a nail up his nose."

The Birmingham setting is a huge part of the show, but in series two the brothers seek to expand their business beyond their hometown, and it's amazing. Let's just say these boys are not impressed with the exploits of London's rich elite. At least not until they have it for themselves.

Seriously, this man has more charisma in his little finger than most people have in their entire bodies. No matter what terrible things he does, you'll find yourself wanting more.

They grow on you, trust me.

. . . There's nothing I can do for you.