Cork actor Cillian Murphy will return to his role as crime boss Tommy Shelby in the acclaimed BBC series Peaky Blinders in September.

Murphy is one of many A-list stars who have made the transition to the small screen and has revealed to the Radio Times that as long as the writing remains strong he is happy to stick with the period drama.

He said: "I'm filming the fourth [series] in September, which is set in the mid to late 1920s, and I know that Steve Knight [writer/creator] is keen for Tommy to be seen as the first air-raid sirens go off for the Second World War."

He continued: "I would embrace that as long as the writing stayed strong."

Murphy added: "What is changing on this side of the pond is that we're being given time to let characters evolve over four or five series, which wasn't always the case before.

"We're in a golden time for television."

Peaky Blinders, which follows the story of a real-life criminal gang of the early 20th century, has gone on to huge acclaim and picked up two BAFTAs.

Cillian meanwhile also revealed that his television guilty pleasure is Dragon's Den. He described the show as "unbelievably bizarre" but "really compelling", adding that "all these imposing men and women sitting around with plies of cash, destroying people's dreams, with this ominous music in this bizarre warehouse".

Murphy will be also be back soon on the big screen alongside fellow Irish actor Jack Reynor. The two have been filming, a 1970s thriller set in Boston Free Fire directed by Ben Wheatley the man behind recent cult film The Kill List.

Co-written by Wheatley Free Fire tells the story of an arms deal at a warehouse that goes wrong for two Irishmen.