The Peaky Blinders gang of early 20th century Birmingham gangsters will go head to head against the 19th century seaside townsfolk of the adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sanditon on Sunday night.
The fifth series of the BBC’s gritty crime drama Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy, will air at 9pm on BBC One, as ITV’s new drama Sanditon makes its debut in the same timeslot.
Peaky Blinders, which focuses on the Shelby family’s criminal organisation in the aftermath of the First World War, has been a hit across the world.
Following its win for best drama at last year’s TV Baftas, the Steven Knight-penned programme channel-hopped from BBC Two to BBC One.
The new series plunges the main characters into the world of politics, with Murphy’s character Tommy Shelby in place as an MP in Birmingham.
Peaky Blinders also stars Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Finn Cole, and Helen McCrory, who recently said she was unable to watch the “disgustingly violent” first episode of the new series.
Over on ITV, the adaptation of Austen’s final and incomplete novel Sanditon will offer TV viewers a different type of period drama.
Set in the 19th century, Sanditon tells the story of the impulsive, spirited and unconventional Charlotte Heywood and her spiky relationship with the charming and wild Sidney Parker.
When a chance accident transports her from her rural home town of Willingden to the coastal resort of the title, it exposes Charlotte to the intrigues and dalliances of a seaside town on the make, and the characters whose fortunes depend on its commercial success.
The twists and turns of the plot, which takes viewers from the West Indies to the rotting alleys of London, exposes the hidden agendas of each character and sees Charlotte discover herself and ultimately find love.
Divergent star Theo James plays Sidney opposite Curfew actress Rose Williams as Charlotte, with Last Tango In Halifax star Anne Reid and Death In Paradise actor Kris Marshall also in the cast.
The script has been written by Andrew Davies, who was responsible for adaptations of War & Peace, Les Miserables and Pride And Prejudice.