Anthony Byrne, with his girlfriend Natalie Dormer, is directing the next season of Peaky Blinders

An Irishman will once again be in charge when Peaky Blinders returns to screens early next year. Anthony Byrne, a director from Dublin, is following in the footsteps of David Caffrey, who led series four of the critically acclaimed BBC production set in 1920s Birmingham.

Byrne, 43, who also directed Butterfly, a drama on ITV, has taken over for series five, which has started filming in the UK.

Byrne’s previous directing credits include the Irish productions Ripper Street, and Love/Hate. He has worked on The Last Kingdom and Mr Selfridge and directed Hozier’s video for his single, Someone New. Byrne is engaged to Natalie Dormer, the former Game of Thrones actress, with whom he collaborated on In Darkness, a film co-written by the couple that