A PEEK behind the stories of television series Peaky Blinders will be taking place at Dudley borough archives centre.

Dr Chris Upton, a senior history lecturer at Newman University in Birmingham, will be talking about his work on the popular BBC period drama on Thursday, March 5.

During his visit to the borough archives, Dr Upton will take those in attendance on a journey behind the scenes of the show, talking about working with the production team, writers and actors to ensure the drama was as historically accurate as possible for a fictional series.

The talk will also look at the history of Birmingham gangs, from the eighteenth century through the years.

Dr Upton said: “It was a real honour to work on the series. Period dramas, such as Peaky Blinders, entertain and inform members of public, shining a light on periods of history that may have been forgotten.

“While the series itself isn’t based on a true story, the types of events, times and environment in which the drama takes place are real so we wanted to portray these aspects as accurately as possible.

“I was particularly keen to ensure that the actors’ accents were as accurate as possible and not confused with Black Country accents.”

The talk will be hosted by the Friends of Dudley archives, a local history service which supports Dudley borough archives in a voluntary capacity, holding regular talks and events at the Tipton Road centre.

Councillor Hilary Bills, cabinet member for archives, said: “There are some really interesting and entertaining local history events and talks planned for the coming months and they provide a great opportunity to understand more about the history of our surrounding areas.

“The history talks are also a great way to get acquainted with the services that our new archives centre offers and find out about local and family history.”

Admission to the talk, which starts at 7.30pm, is free for members of the group, or £2 for non members. Tickets can be bought by calling 01902 827236.