‘Boardwalk Empire’ Is a Great Period Crime Drama For ‘Peaky Blinkers’ Fans

It’s been four years since Peaky Blinders Season 6 streamed on Netflix, and fans will have to wait at least two more weeks for the movie sequel, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. The feature-length film, set to be the final chapter of the saga, premieres on Mar. 6, 2026. If you were a loyal follower of the crime drama, you’ve probably struggled to find something that’s just as good, with a similar period vibe. Well, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, produced by Martin Scorsese, comes close.

Set primarily in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s, Boardwalk Empire stars Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson (based on the historical Enoch L. Johnson), an influential city treasurer who is in bed with the mafia. Younger versions of several historical figures appear in the show, including Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky. The show is partly inspired by Nelson Johnson’s 2002 non-fiction book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City.

‘Boardwalk Empire’ is a Feast for the Eyes

HBO

“I heard you dress well, Mr. Shelby,” mobster Luca Changretta tells Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders. Fashion is one of the show’s most appealing features, and anyone who likes watching gangsters wearing suits and ties will likely enjoy Boardwalk Empire, too. Forget the tracksuits and bathrobes of The Sopranos. This is a dapper person’s crime drama, but there is more to it. This isn’t just Atlantic City Fashion Week.

Both Peaky Blinders and Boardwalk Empire are intimate character studies of people without a moral compass. They’re vivid portrayals of gangster criminality at the two ends of the Atlantic. Unsurprisingly, their production values are almost similar. Both series feature stunning period details and the right scenery. Few TV shows make better use of lighting, shadows, set composition, and camera angles to imbue events with an aura of hidden menace, looming brutality, and endless paranoiac anxiety. You’ll also be treated to the post-WWI entertainment scene (smoky pubs, cocktail bars, luxurious hotels), classic cars, and good music.

Most importantly, both shows blend fact and fiction perfectly. Boardwalk Empire captures plenty of historical details correctly, such as Arnold Rothstein’s Black Sox scandal and the famous Atlantic City Conference. It also features plenty of fictional subplots. Peaky Blinders pretty much rides the same path. Tommy Shelby is a composite figure based on various British gangsters, but Peaky Blinders also has plenty of real characters, including Winston Churchill and Oswald Mosley.

No Money (or Talent) Was Spared While Making ‘Boardwalk Empire’

In the same way that old gangsters liked to splash the cash, HBO and Martin Scorsese spent a lot of money on Boardwalk Empire. Scorsese himself directed the pilot episode (and he won an Emmy for it) for $18 million. Other episodes also shine, so it’s wise to presume that they had big budgets, too. The production team even built a 300-foot-long (91 m) boardwalk in an empty lot in Brooklyn, New York, at the cost of $5 million, just for the show.

Money aside, Emmy Award-winner Terence Winter, who served as executive producer and writer on The Sopranos, was hired to oversee Boardwalk Empire. Scorsese and his team also chose the cast carefully, bringing in talents like Michael Shannon as a relentless, zealot lawman whose snout appears to be in the same filthy trough as the gangsters. They also cast Stephen Graham as a young Al Capone who doesn’t mind beating up reporters who dare ask him to say something about anything.

Boardwalk Empire received widespread critical acclaim throughout its run and received 57 Emmy nominations, including two for Outstanding Drama Series, and won 20. The gangster drama also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama in 2011 and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. The show might not have as strong and passionate a fanbase as mafia drama The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, but Peaky Blinders fans will totally love it.