Peaky Blinder Audience Appeal - Use of Film Stars

Peaky Blinders is a BBC 2 drama series set in post WW1 1919 England, directed by Steven Knight. One way in which Peaky Blinders is constructed to appeal to a wide audience if through its use of famous film stars. Tommy, the main protagonist, is played by Cillian Murphy (Inception, 28 Days Later), whilst Inspector Campbell is played by Sam Neil (Jurassic Park II & III). The inclusion of famous actors appeals to a main stream audience as they are highly recognizable, and in turn a mainstream audience will be more likely to watch the show due to they fact they feel they can trust the acting will be successful. It can also appeals to fans of the actors, Cillain Murphy in particular is viewing as an attractive actor to females, thus meaning they will be more inclined to watch the show as its use of famous film-stars such as Murphy may gratify their sexual arousal (Blumler and Katz theory) to a certain extent. It is also not foreign for famous actors to have dedicated fan bases, and in casting the likes of Neil, Helen McCrory, and Murphy it will appeal to them.