The streets of Small Heath are filled with ghosts. Over six seasons of Peaky Blinders, fans watched the Shelby family lose loved ones, bury enemies, and say goodbye to some of the most memorable characters in television history. But in a show where Alfie Solomons got shot in the face and came back to talk about it, the question of who really stays dead is always worth asking.
While much of the conversation around Peaky Blinders deaths focuses on Inspector Campbell—the corrupt policeman who met his end at the hands of Polly Gray—there is another villain whose death left a much larger hole in the story. A villain whose survival would have completely reshaped the final seasons and changed everything for Thomas Shelby.
The Villain Fans Forgot About (But The Shelbys Never Could)
Before the fascists, before the Italians, before the Billy Boys, the Shelby family faced a different kind of enemy. Aberama Gold, played by Aidan Gillen, entered the picture in Season 4 as a brutal Gypsy hitman that Tommy brought in to help fight the Changretta family. But Gold was never just a hired hand .
He was a man with his own agenda, his own code, and his own score to settle. More importantly, he was the man who loved Aunt Polly. Their romance gave the hard-edged Polly Gray something she had not shown in years—vulnerability, hope, and a real shot at happiness outside the chaos of the Shelby crime empire.
When Gold proposed to Polly during a performance of Swan Lake at the Shelby mansion, it was one of the rare moments of pure joy in the series. For a brief moment, it looked like Polly might actually get her happy ending .
How Aberama Gold Really Met His End
The Season 5 finale set up so many threads that fans spent years guessing what would happen next. The failed assassination attempt on Oswald Mosley left Tommy exposed, and the consequences came crashing down hard in the Season 6 premiere .
The IRA came for revenge. They killed Aberama Gold. They killed Barney Thompson. And most devastating of all, they killed Polly Gray.
Gold’s death happened off-screen, which in Peaky Blinders usually leaves the door open for a return. But unlike Alfie Solomons, who survived a point-blank gunshot, Aberama Gold was confirmed dead through the show’s writing. The official Peaky Blinders podcast and multiple cast interviews confirmed that Aidan Gillen’s time on the show was finished .
But what if it was not?
The Alternate Reality: Aberama Gold Lives
Imagine for a moment that Aberama Gold survived that IRA attack. Maybe he was wounded badly but managed to crawl away. Maybe someone found him and pulled him back from the edge. In the world of Peaky Blinders, where characters regularly cheat death, this is not such a stretch.
If Gold had lived, here is how everything changes.
Polly Gray’s Death Hits Different
Polly’s death was devastating for everyone, but especially for Gold. In the actual series, Tommy and Arthur had to carry the weight of avenging her. Arthur killed Captain Swing, the IRA leader responsible, in a brutal confrontation that used mustard gas and pure Shelby rage .
But if Gold had survived, that revenge would have been his. Imagine the scene: Arthur shows up ready to fight, but Gold is already there. The look in his eyes would have been terrifying. Aidan Gillen built his career playing characters who can shift from calm to violent in a heartbeat. Watching Gold take apart Polly’s killers would have been one of the most satisfying moments in the entire series.
Michael Gray’s Fate Gets Complicated
Michael Gray spent all of Season 6 blaming Tommy for his mother’s death. He plotted, schemed, and eventually tried to kill Tommy with a car bomb in Boston .
But Michael also had a complicated history with Aberama Gold. They were not close, but Gold loved Polly. When Michael started working with Gina and her uncle Jack Nelson, he was aligning himself with the very forces that got Polly killed. Gold would have seen that clearly.
In the actual finale, Tommy shoots Michael in the face. It is cold, efficient, and exactly what Tommy does best. But Gold killing Michael would have carried so much more emotional weight. Polly’s lover executing her son for betraying her memory? That is Greek tragedy level stuff.
The Mosley Connection Deepens
The real villain of the later seasons was always Oswald Mosley. Tommy’s plan to kill him failed because of betrayal, and Mosley spent Seasons 5 and 6 manipulating events from behind the scenes .
Gold had no love for Mosley. In fact, Gold represented the old ways—the Gypsy traditions, the street-level violence, the personal code of honor that Mosley’s polished fascism threatened to erase. A living Aberama Gold would have been a wild card in Tommy’s war against Mosley.
Imagine Gold showing up at Mosley’s rallies. Imagine him in the crowd, staring at the man whose rise to power got Polly killed. Mosley thought he was dealing with Tommy Shelby, a man he understood. He had no idea how to handle someone like Gold.
The Doctor Twist Gets Even Better
One of the smartest moves in the Season 6 finale was the reveal that Dr. Holford, the man who told Tommy he was dying, was actually working with Mosley . The whole fake illness was designed to push Tommy into suicide—the only way Mosley could actually kill the man who seemed untouchable.
Tommy figured it out, confronted Holford, and let him live. It was a strange mercy from a man not known for mercy.
But Gold? Gold would not have let Holford walk away. If Gold had survived and learned that Holford’s lies contributed to the chaos that got Polly killed, that doctor would not have made it to breakfast.
Why This Matters For The Peaky Blinders Movie
The Peaky Blinders movie, reportedly titled The Immortal Man, is scheduled to release in late 2025 or 2026 . Cillian Murphy is confirmed to return as Tommy Shelby, and the story will move into the World War II era.
In the movie, Tommy is presumed dead by the world. He rode off on a white horse as his caravan burned, cutting his last ties to his old life . But fans know Tommy Shelby does not stay dead for long.
The movie will likely deal with Tommy hunting Nazis, working with Winston Churchill, and finally confronting Oswald Mosley for good . But imagine if Aberama Gold was there too.
Two Gypsy men, both shaped by violence, both mourning the same woman, both hunting the same enemies. Gold and Tommy never exactly trusted each other, but they respected each other. In a war against fascists, that respect could have turned into something powerful.
The Character That Deserved Better
Aberama Gold was more than just another villain. He was a mirror for Tommy—showing what Tommy might have become if he had let his harder edges take over completely. Gold was brutal, yes. But he was also loyal, passionate, and capable of real love.
His death served a purpose. It raised the stakes for Season 6 and made the IRA threat feel real. But in a show where characters routinely survive impossible situations, Gold’s off-screen death always felt a little cheap.
The alternate reality where Aberama Gold lives is not just wishful thinking. It is a reminder of how one character’s survival can ripple through an entire story, changing fates, deepening revenge, and making the world feel more connected.
What The Cast And Creators Have Said
Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, has always been open about how the show evolved. In interviews with the official Peaky Blinders podcast, Knight discussed how certain characters were written out based on story needs and actor availability .
The decision to kill Polly Gray came from real-life tragedy. Actress Helen McCrory passed away in April 2021 after a battle with cancer . The show had to pivot, and Polly’s death was written into Season 6 as a way to honor McCrory while explaining the character’s absence.
But Aberama Gold’s death was always part of the plan. Aidan Gillen was booked for a specific arc, and that arc ended with the IRA attack. Still, in interviews, Gillen has spoken fondly of his time on the show and the character he built.
“Gold was interesting because he was not just a gangster,” Gillen said in promotional interviews at the time. “He had layers. He had a son he was trying to protect. He had feelings for Polly that were real. Playing that balance was the best part.”
Fan Reactions To Gold’s Death
When Season 6 premiered on Netflix in June 2022, fans had mixed reactions to the fast-paced handling of the IRA attack . Many felt that Gold deserved a more meaningful exit, especially given how integral he had been to the previous season.
Online discussions and fan forums lit up with theories about who could still be alive. Some pointed out that Peaky Blinders had faked deaths before. Alfie Solomons was the prime example—shot by Tommy, presumed dead, then back causing trouble a season later .
But as the season progressed and Gold never reappeared, fans accepted that he was really gone. Still, the “what if” questions never stopped.
The Bigger Picture: Death In Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders has always treated death strangely. Characters die, come back, die again. Ghosts appear. Visions haunt. Tommy sees his dead daughter Ruby in the Season 6 finale, and her words save his life .
The show uses death as a tool, not an ending. So when a character like Aberama Gold dies off-screen, it feels less like a conclusion and more like an interruption. His story was not finished. His revenge was not taken. His love for Polly was left hanging.
In a show about family, loyalty, and the costs of violence, Gold’s death reminds viewers that not everyone gets closure. Sometimes people just die, and the living have to carry on without them.
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What Comes Next
With the Peaky Blinders movie on the horizon, fans are speculating wildly about which characters might return. Tom Hardy’s Alfie Solomons seems likely. Stephen Graham’s character from Season 6 could play a role. And of course, Tommy himself is the center of it all .
But Aberama Gold will probably stay dead. That is the tragedy of his character—he mattered, and then he did not. The show moved on, and so did the fans.
Still, in an alternate reality, Gold is out there. Maybe he is hunting IRA members in Ireland. Maybe he is watching Mosley from the shadows. Maybe he is waiting for the moment when Tommy Shelby needs him most.
That is the beauty of Peaky Blinders. Even the characters who are gone never really leave. They live on in the memories of the Shelbys, in the wounds that never heal, and in the questions fans keep asking.
By order of the Peaky Blinders, some stories never end.
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