Peaky Blinders star Sophie Rundle will ensure the character of Aunt Polly lives on following the death of actress Helen McCrory.
The sixth and final season of the hit BBC series finally returned to the small screen over the weekend, with Aunt Polly's absence already being felt by viewers.
Actress Helen McCrory, who played the formidable matriarch in the series, died last year aged 52 after a private illness with cancer.
READ MORE: Peaky Blinder fans 'sob' as show pays tribute to Polly actress Helen McCrory
The show paid a heartfelt tribute to the actress as the character was sadly written out of the show.
At the beginning of the episode this weekend, viewers saw Michael grieving for his mother after her body appeared to have been delivered to Tommy's estate.
As Tommy inspected three body bags left outside his house, he broke down as he looked inside the final one and realised the consequences of his actions.
We saw Tommy Shelby break down into tears, as the camera panned to a photograph of Aunt Polly.
He later watched on in sorrow, dressed in all black as the family burnt her belongings, struggling to hold back tears.
Aunt Polly was known for her incredible style, with the clothes and accessories she wore an integral part of showing off her character’s personality.
Costumes for Aunt Polly to wear in the final season had already been started on prior to the pandemic, as filming was originally due to commence in March 2020.
The show's costume designer, Alison McCosh, told Metro that Aunt Polly will still be very present in the finale.
She said: "In season five, we really wanted to make our mark with Polly. We really felt that the script really led to that and we discussed at the start [before season six], that we could push her even further.
"It was really difficult because [Helen] was one that I had started [designing costumes for] very early on. Helen loved her costume fittings, I loved the fittings with her. They were exciting and engaging.
"It was hard because I didn’t want to let her go. I didn’t want to let Polly go."
The designer then decided to speak to Sophie Rundle, pitching the idea of Ada stepping into Polly’s position as the family matriarch through her clothes as well as her character’s story arc.
She explained: "I said, “I think it would be really interesting that Ada would want to step in and step off into Polly’s shoes, use some of these pieces that I’ve created and designed for Polly if we can have Ada wear them, I think it would be really interesting visually to show that, [Ada] trying to step into Polly’s shoes.
"So we did that, Sophie loved that idea and that was a way for me to have Polly move on through Ada."
She added: "It was quite emotional, but also, it felt right and so we decided to do that.
"Sophie loved it."
Peaky Blinders continues on BBC One and iPlayer on Sundays at 9pm
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