8 Best Fictional Crime Series To Watch If You Love ‘Peaky Blinders’

Critically acclaimed BBC original TV show Peaky Blinders has reached its final destination. The series, which managed to capture the audience’s heart from the very moment it premiered, has, of course, to this day been extremely treasured and properly estimated by millions.

Creator Steven Knight has already confirmed that the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie will start filming in 2023, and there are a few TV shows to keep everyone who loves the crime genre entertained until the wait is over.

The Sopranos

Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) is a fictional New Jersey-based, Italian American mob boss who struggles to balance his home life and his criminal organization. Tony deals with personal and professional issues that affect his mental state, leading him to seek professional psychiatric counseling.

A very popular series even 23 years after its premiere, it is somewhat hard to find someone who has never heard about The Sopranos. Sharing a balanced mixture of comic amenability and violent murder, this series blew audiences away with its exposure of realistic and brutal imagery, revolutionizing television and announcing a new era of production quality on TV.

Boardwalk Empire

During the Prohibition era of the 1920s, Boardwalk Empire tells the story of Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi), a man who is equal parts gangster and political figure who rises to prominence and controls Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Boardwalk Empire is an entrancing, visually stunning crime series that arguably makes for one of the best mobster shows ever. Other famous gangsters like Al Capone and Arnold Rothstein also make appearances. Captivating its audience with sophisticated costumes and beautiful sets, it is also big on astounding acting, pulp fiction, violence, and great storytelling that keeps viewers engaged.

Gangs of London

Gangs of London is a great follow-up for those who enjoy Peaky Blinders — Joe Cole, former John Shelby, brings Sean Wallace to life in an intense gangster thriller set in modern-day London.

While this contemporary crime family story might not be for everyone, it is likely that the Peaky Blinders fans who did not mind the series’ explicit portrayal of brutal violence will find no issue when it comes to this show’s atrocities. Through an enthralling plot, Gareth Evans‘ series is highly entertaining and conveys a good dose of exciting action.

Sons of Anarchy

Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam) is a biker who attempts to balance being a father and being involved in an outlaw motorcycle club that operates both illegal and legal businesses going by the name of “Sons of Anarchy”, also known as “SAMCRO”, in the small town of Charming.

With top-notch writing and a realistic setting, this engaging show — which practically dares anyone who watches to resist the urge to buy a motorcycle — has noticeably caught viewers’ attention by delivering an action-packed, drama-filled complex story that keeps the audiences invested in its plot and characters.

Breaking Bad

Centering around a high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable Stage III lung cancer, Breaking Bad’s main character, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine in order to ensure his family’s secure future.

Vince Gilligan‘s series gained a great amount of esteem and international fame shortly after it premiered in 2008, and the American drama has a huge fan base to this day. As addictive as it is compelling, Breaking Bad surely deserves all the fanfare and exposure it’s seen since the beginning.

Narcos

Based on the true story of the growth and spread of cocaine drug cartels across the globe, Narcos explores the life of notorious Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) and Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook), a DEA agent sent to Colombia on a U.S mission in order to capture him.

There have been a lot of drug cartel related shows in the modern era, but arguably none of them quite compare to Chris Brancato’s crime drama. Effortlessly brilliant, intriguing, and compelling, Narcos is a flagship production with innovative storytelling. “Epic” is certainly a suitable word to describe it.

Animal Kingdom

Finn Cole, Peaky Blinders’ Michael Gray, plays Joshua “J” Cody in this intense and thrilling series. Ironically, the concept is quite similar to Peaky Blinders — a character-driven crime drama revolving around the misdemeanor of an entire family— but with the twist of a more modern setting.

Full of flawed, well-written characters and amazing acting, Animal Kingdom is highly addictive and keeps a great pace all along, entertaining viewers with its captivating storyline.

Power

Power, a visionary crime drama that balances the contrasting glamorous Manhattan lifestyles of the rich and the underworld of the international drug trade, follows the story James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), a wealthy New York nightclub owner who appears to have everything anyone could wish for, while simultaneously living a double life as a drug kingpin.

Whereas it might not be the best crime show running, it is a solid genre entry— dark, gritty, and edge-of-your-seat tense at times. Some fans might agree that the series’ quality decreased somewhere along the latest seasons, but the performances and background stories make Power an overall highly watchable show.