Peaky Blinders and The Bridge

The Bridge and Peaky Blinders are landmark examples of contemporary long-form television drama that utilize hybrid genre conventions to engage global audiences. While The Bridge is a definitive "Nordic Noir," it relies heavily on classic Film Noir elements, such as a "dark, pessimistic tone," "moral decline," and a "disillusioned, flawed anti-hero" in Saga Norén. Similarly, as discussed in our conversation history, Peaky Blinders adopts Noir-inflected aesthetics—using "shadowy architecture" and "hellish" industrial settings—to "mythologize" the working-class lives of 1920s Birmingham gangsters.

Central to the Noir link in both series is the troubled protagonist. Saga is described as "socially challenged," lacking empathy and struggling to conform to "social norms". Tommy Shelby is a "man of few words" whose ruthless ambition is complicated by the "vulnerability" of PTSD following the First World War. Both characters operate in "morally ambiguous" worlds where the line between justice and corruption is blurred.

Visually, The Bridge employs a "desaturated colour palette" and "chiaroscuro lighting" to establish a "melancholy aesthetic". Peaky Blinders contrasts this with "spectacular and lush" production design that portrays "industrial poverty" with "vigour and excitement" rather than despair.

Industrially, both shows reflect the "global age" of television through successful co-production models. Distributed internationally by Netflix and the BBC, they have reached a global audience by offering "local stories on a global platform". Ultimately, both series utilize sophisticated "Media Language" to challenge stereotypes—whether through Saga’s subversion of the "male gaze" or the Shelbys’ "alternative view of British history" that rejects the "sanitised view" often seen in mainstream costume dramas.