‘Peaky Blinders’ creator teases ‘wild,’ ‘deeply emotional’ movie ‘The Immortal Man’

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s already looking forward to the next installment in the “Peaky Blinders” saga.

In this week’s edition, Steven Knight, creator of the six-season series, stops by to discuss his World War II drama “Rogue Heroes” — and tease what to expect from the forthcoming “Peaky Blinders” film “The Immortal Man.” Plus, our recommendations for what to stream this weekend.

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Betty Gilpin.

(Victoria Will / For The Times)

Versatile and self-aware, Betty Gilpin moves with ease onscreen and onstage: The actor stars in Netflix’s gritty western “American Primeval” and will soon take over the lead role in “Oh, Mary!” on Broadway.

There’s never been a TV detective quite like ‘Vera’: As Vera Stanhope, Brenda Blethyn helped create both a revolutionary television character and one of ITV’s longest-running series. Our columnist says goodbye to “Vera.”

‘Shifting Gears’ brings Tim Allen back to TV, along with some familial political differences: Tim Allen stars as a curmudgeonly father and Kat Dennings as his estranged daughter in this ABC multicam sitcom that features some sociopolitical humor.

Review: As Golden Globes host, Nikki Glaser delivered a good time at Hollywood’s party night: Despite a long ceremony chock full of awards, emcee Nikki Glaser kept the show moving along with lightly cutting and relatively inoffensive jokes.

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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

“Fake or Fortune?” presenter Fiona Bruce with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace last year.

(WPA Pool / Getty Images)

“Fake or Fortune?” (YouTube)

A sprightly reality detective show, in which the dashing duo of journalist Fiona Bruce and posh gallerist Philip Mould are enlisted by art owners to authenticate possibly valuable works. (As in “Antiques Roadshow,” its humble cousin, the question of, “What might it be worth?” is unavoidably raised.) That many of these works, including pieces by — or not by — Modigliani, Gainsborough, Constable, Turner, Monet and Rembrandt, fail to be accepted by the experts, however convincing the case Bruce and Mould assemble, will not keep you from forming a different opinion or make the series any less entertaining and educational. (It might also give you some appreciation for the forger’s craft and less respect for unmovable officaldom.) The team’s research takes them around the U.K. and beyond, into homes, museums and laboratories, and to the places where the artists worked, to engage with conservators, scientists, handwriting experts, archivists and others. In its 12th season on BBC One, episodes are available on YouTube, via the arts channel Perspective and individual posters. — Robert Lloyd

Noah Wyle in “The Pitt.”

(Warrick Page / Max)

“The Pitt” (Max)

One of my go-to origin stories for explaining how I fell in love with TV begins with my mom letting me stay up late to watch NBC’s “must-see TV” with her on Thursday nights growing up — including “ER,” whose early car-crash-in-a-blizzard episode seared in my 7-year-old brain so deeply I can recount it beat by beat 30 years on. So it was no surprise that I found myself captivated by the first two episodes of “The Pitt,” which reunites “ER” creator John Wells and star Noah Wyle in an hour-by-hour account of a single shift in a Pittsburgh hospital’s emergency department. Now the grizzled veteran instead of the pretty-boy hotshot (played here by Patrick Ball), Wyle stars as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, still reeling from the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic and beloved by his staff. As with “ER,” Wells emerges as a miracle worker of efficient character development, with dozens of doctors, nurses, students, patients and families already on the board just two hours into this very long day; besides Robby, I’m keeping my eye on Mel (Taylor Dearden), an enthusiastic, sweet-tempered transplant from the local VA hospital; and Victoria (Shabana Azeez), a nepo baby seemingly out of her depth. All of it is lashed together with the familiar patter of medical jargon (and a fair share of gore), with tamponade, degloved feet, fasciotomy and more. HBO, if you’re reading this, I need Episodes 3 through 15, stat. —Matt Brennan

READ MORE: ‘The Pitt’ offers hyperrealism, whereas ‘Doc’ leans into melodrama

Catch up

Everything you need to know about the film or TV series everyone’s talking about

Kurt Russell on set of “The Thing.”

(Sunset Boulevard / Corbis via Getty Images)

Never a director to be confused for one of the boyish “movie brats” of the late 1970s, John Carpenter was nonetheless riding high in 1981 after a string of massive hits: “Halloween,” “The Fog” and “Escape From New York.” He decided to spend all his capital (and plenty of Universal’s too) remaking one of his favorite films, 1951’s “The Thing From Another World,” ghost-directed by his hero, Howard Hawks. The resultant movie — a dark, gooey masterpiece — would forever alter Carpenter’s fortunes in Hollywood. It flopped, eclipsed by the sunnier sci-fi of “E.T.” The creature effects, by Rob Bottin, were traumatizing. And it set Carpenter on an antagonistic path, always pushing against executives, burrowing deeper into his cynicism.

He may have lost the battle, but he won the war: Carpenter’s “The Thing” (Shudder), indeed his whole brand of cool minimalism and synth-scored menace, is as copied today as the style of any fashionable auteur. He will always be associated with horror, but don’t overlook his anticorporate, anti-authority streak. Carpenter was set to be celebrated this weekend at the dinner of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., the deserving recipient of a career achievement award. (Full disclosure: I’m a voter and was going to present to him.) While that event has yet to be rescheduled, the spirit still stands. It’s time to start talking about Carpenter as the American master he is. Turn on “The Thing” and share a bottle of booze at the end of the world. — Joshua Rothkopf

READ MORE: John Carpenter returns to the director’s chair with true terror anthology ‘Suburban Screams’

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Gwilym Lee, left and Jack O’Connell in “Rogue Heroes” Season 2.

(MGM+)

Steven Knight is quite the history buff: With such series as “Taboo” (FX), “Peaky Blinders” (Netflix) and now “Rogue Heroes” (MGM+), the British screenwriter and director has built a body of work devoted to the past, with stories told through the lens of early 19th century London, interwar Birmingham and the North African campaign in World War II. Before Season 2 of “Rogue Heroes” premieres stateside on Sunday, Knight stopped by Screen Gab to explain the importance of the series’ “maverick” commandos, tease his upcoming “Peaky Blinders” movie and more. —Matt Brennan

What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know?

To be honest, I don’t watch much drama on TV. It feels like work to watch. I don’t get too far beyond Attenborough (for relaxation), the news (for anxiety) and soccer (for both of the above).

What’s your go-to comfort watch, the film or TV show you return to again and again?

At this time of year, of course, it’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” (Prime Video). It is beautifully written and performed and is not afraid of big emotions. These days too much is too cool. A simpler way of telling stories results in a complex masterpiece. My kids still love “Friends” [Max], and I do too, and there is nothing finer than a John Ford western to blow away the uncertainties of these curiously uncertain times.

American viewers may not know much about the North African campaign in Word War II. How would you explain its resonance for you, as a Brit, to someone who didn’t grow up being taught that history?

The U.S. was yet to get involved, and Britain stood alone against the whole of Europe. The odds were stacked against Britain until a group of renegade, maverick soldiers (the SAS Rogue Heroes) decided to fight against a more powerful enemy in a new way. Asymmetric warfare was invented. A group of ungoverned, unconventional soldiers, most in their early 20s, tore up the rule book of war: Lightning strikes, commando raids, almost limitless courage created a desert storm which blew the enemy out of Africa and paved the way for the liberation of Europe.

Season 2 of “Rogue Heroes” picks up the story of the renegade British military unit during the campaign to liberate Italy from the Nazis. The SAS were an unconventional, maverick collection of commandos, “outside the box” free thinkers and coldblooded killers who were used by the Allies as the shock troops at the spearhead of invasion. Their courage was unmatched and taken to insane levels of recklessness, but again and again, when the smoke cleared, it was the SAS Rogue Heroes who remained standing. Their medal count was off the scale, their achievements in battle were legendary even among the enemy, and their story really needs to be seen to be believed.

The “Peaky Blinders” movie started production in the fall, two years after the series ended. What was the moment you knew you had more story to tell about Tommy Shelby?

I always knew that the story of Tommy and the Shelby family wouldn’t end with Season 6. There is such a huge global appetite for the world of “Peaky Blinders,” and so much more story to tell. I think it was around the end of Season 2 when I felt that the fan base deserved a say in the trajectory of Peaky. I’ve taken the family into World War II, and the movie we have shot is wild, explosive and deeply emotional. Even when the movie is done, there is more to come. Watch this space.