Review: Peaky Blinders Underworld (London Bridge)

Peaky Blinders Underworld's impressive recreation of Small Heath is let down by missions that fail to make the most of its world and cast.

Photo: Peaky Blinders Underworld

Peaky Blinders Underworld, which is located a stone's throw from London Bridge station, is an immersive experience inspired by the hugely popular BBC series. Made up of two halves: a fully operational recreation of the Garrison Tavern (which is free to visit) and an hour-long immersive experience set in and amongst Small Heath (which requires pre-booking), Peaky Blinders Underworld invites guests to dust off their favourite flat cap and help bolster the Shelby family's position as Birmingham's most powerful gang through a series of missions and character interactions.

While it's not the first immersive experience based on the series to have opened in London (Immersive Everywhere's much-loved Peaky Blinders: The Rise ran in Camden Market across 2022 and 2023), Underworld has the backing of the show's creator, Steven Knight, and bills itself as the 'official Peaky Blinders experience'.

Photo: Peaky Blinders Underworld

Upon arrival, guests find themselves inside a recreation of the Garrison Tavern. Alongside live music and a well-stocked bar (which includes a lager brewed specifically for the venue), the pub is home to several members of the Peaky Blinders who aren't shy about making their presence known and ensuring the pub's patrons aren't members of any rival gangs.

Moving from table to table, these roaming characters engage guests in conversation, provide some context on what to expect once they’re inside Underworld’s main free-roaming experience, and, as you’d expect, throw half a dozen swear words into every interaction for good measure.

Across both parts of Peaky Blinders Underworld, the cast play original characters, with the TV series' main characters - including Tommy, Polly and Arthur - all said to be busy elsewhere.

While the Garrison Tavern is an impressively sized space (and likely now one of the biggest pubs in the immediate area), the true scale of the venue doesn't reveal itself until guests step through a run-of-the-mill curtain in the back corner of the pub and find themselves walking the cobbled streets of 1920s Birmingham as part of the venue's timed main experience.

Once guests are beyond the curtain, they're free to spend their allocated 60 minutes as they wish. With several bars, a funfair full of games and winnable prizes, a bookies and a temporary tattoo parlour, there's plenty of choice when it comes to how to spend your time. The experience's centrepieces, however, are its two main missions, which guests are pulled into almost immediately by one of the Peaky Blinders crew.

Photo: Peaky Blinders Underworld

The primary task is to catch the rat who's been passing on information to London-based gangster Darby Sabini. To do so, guests need to explore the various businesses, alleyways and dens that make up the neighbourhood, locate five clues hiding in plain sight, and use them to uncover the rat's true identity. The secondary goal is to locate all of the peepholes scattered throughout Small Heath and gather intel on the number of barrels, crates and boxes being delivered by gangster Alfie Solomons, which can then be used to obtain a steep discount on the next shipment.

Both missions are straightforward enough to complete within the allotted hour, leaving plenty of time to try everything else on offer. They're also among the experience's weakest elements, with the information gathered not leading to any meaningful narrative developments, and neither mission requires guests to interact with the show's cast to complete.

It's a baffling creative decision considering this is an interactive experience with a cast full of capable performers, and it's only worsened by the fact that, besides a drinks token and a brief word of thanks at the end of the mission, discovering who the rat is or securing a discount on Solomons' next delivery have zero noticeable impact on the world or those within it.

As a result, Peaky Blinders Underworld is at its best when guests step away from its main objectives and start interacting with the world around them directly...

Photo: Peaky Blinders Underworld

Outside of the two main missions, there's a good number of side activities to keep guests entertained, most of which are located within the Small Heath Fairground. From hook-a-duck and a coconut shy through to ring toss and a shooting gallery, guests could devote a good chunk of their time to completing all the challenges on offer here and not run out of things to do. Each game also has era-appropriate prizes to be won, including harmonicas, whoopee cushions and wooden toys, which add another layer of reward for those who succeed at each game.

Much like in the Garrison Tavern, members of the Peaky Blinders roam the space, providing one-on-one interactions with guests and pointing them in the right direction if they’re struggling with the missions. Alongside them are the various funfair workers, bookies and shopkeepers who flesh out the world further. These encounters reward guests who actively seek them out, with the strongest moments coming from the random comments exchanged once we'd completed the two main missions.

Photo: Peaky Blinders Underworld

During our visit, every interaction we had with the show’s cast was hugely enjoyable and in keeping with the feel of the original series. Across the board, the entire cast seemed comfortable improvising and bouncing off whatever was thrown their way - whether that was helping name a toy duck we won in the funfair or debating the ethics of bare-knuckle boxing.

From the cobblestone floor and billowing smoke vents, through the props and signage, the experience’s set is a wonderfully detailed recreation of the original series setting and feels reminiscent of pre-COVID Secret Cinema productions. There are enough hidden corners and alleyways to give guests a sense of discovery as they get their bearings and plenty of small Easter eggs for die-hard fans of the show to pick up on and appreciate.

Photo: Peaky Blinders Underworld

While Peaky Blinders Underworld succeeds when it comes to its performances, set design and atmosphere, the overall experience is let down by its two central missions, which offer very little in the way of narrative and can be completed without any meaningful interactions with the cast. Hopefully, with time, these issues can be worked out, and Underworld can provide a deeper experience for guests to get tangled up in.

Either way, long-time fans of the show will likely find plenty to enjoy in this impressive recreation of its world, even if its lack of narrative depth currently prevents its strongest elements from coming together into one cohesive experience.

★★★½

[Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review]

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Peaky Blinders Underworld runs at 8 Bermondsey Street near London Bridge until 30th December 2026. Tickets are priced from £21.95 per person. For more information and to book tickets, visit peakyblinders.london