Peaky Blinders showrunner Steven Knight gives the impression that he regrets every single death in the show so much that he finds contrivances to make sure that death is rarely permanent. Arthur Shelby and Alfie Solomons have both bounced back from death, and Tommy Shelby's dead wife Grace turns up more now she's a ghostly memory than she did when she was a real living woman.

But there's one death that Knight regrets more than any other, and it's someone you've probably not thought about at all since way back in the mists of season one.

"Hi! this question is for both," wrote u/seokjinsoul during a Reddit AMA session with Knight and Peaky star Cillian Murphy. "What previous character death upset you the most, so a character that u wish didn’t have to die? thank u!"

"There was an IRA officer in series one," Knight wrote. "I regret his death because he was such a brilliant actor."

Then in chipped Murphy: "His name was Tom Vaughn-Lawlor."

It's Vaughan-Lawlor, Cillian mate, but close enough. He was only in one episode in the end, but it's better to burn out than to fade away. His candle burned out long before his legend ever will. Every step I take, every move I make, every single day, every time I pray: I'll be missing you, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.

The IRA member that he played, Malachy Byrne, was sadly murdered by Tommy Shelby – if you're going to threaten anyone, don't threaten the bloke who's just stolen loads of machine guns, Malachy. But Vaughan-Lawlor himself continues to live, and played Ebony Maw in Avengers: Infinity War. Still, given how dead most people stay in the Peakyverse, Vaughan-Lawlor should probably drop Knight a text.

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