When Tommy Shelby, Steve Knight's principal character in The Peaky Blinders, first rode onto our television screen, viewers were presented with a battle-scarred, but still relatively young veteran, from the Great War. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring, real-life streets of Balsall Heath and Sparkhill, the Wareing family of eight children (and a musicallygifted mother, Lilian) struggled to cope with their invalid father's return to 65 Brunswick Road, fresh from the hell-hole of Gallipoli. Harry Senior, the author's grandfather, having contracted meningitis, returned home as a self centred, ruthless stranger. With a Good Old Days MC introduction, by Comedian, Entertainer and Papal Knight, Don Maclean, it features 12 of the author's newly composed songs. A Power Point display runs throughout, linked by five Edward Elgar compositions – the composer and Shirley's maternal Great Grandfather, Eustace Baylis, having been schoolboy friends. Introductory pages are followed by the main script, interspersed with song scores. All scenes are slide-illustrated, to correspond with the Power Point Disc (included). Music for the show's five 'a cappella' songs is in the Appendices. Add a diverse range of characters, plus shades of Oliver Twist, and we have an exciting new musical – just ripe for performance!
