Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight unveils his eight classic Desert Island Discs

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight appeared on the BBC Radio 4 show, Desert Island Discs, to talk about his youth growing up in Birmingham, his start in the film industry and all the people he has met along the way.

During the interview, Mr Knight told Desert Island Discs presenter Lauren Laverne, about how he had met rapper Snoop Dogg, who showed his admiration for the show, saying how it had 'reminded him of how he got involved into gang culture.'

Mr Knight said that meeting the rapper helped him to understand that Peaky Blinders is 'pretty universal', with people all over the world tuning in to watch it every week.

'These are people living big dramatic lives'

Talking about the development of the show, Mr Knight said: "I was told stories by my mom and dad of things they experienced when they were kids, so they were kids looking at this world.

"Then I'm a kid they're telling me stories, so it was double mythologised. Most things about working-class people are like 'Aren't they hilarious' or 'That's such a shame' but it's not like that.

"That perspective is so reductive. I used to go shoeing horses in the gypsy's scrap metal yard, the people we would meet were so larger than life, so rebellious, so the other side of the law, but really warm and great people. These are people who are living big dramatic lives. I wanted to get some of that respect for one's own life into this."

Mr Knight, who was the youngest of seven kids, said he was inspired by the myth-like stories that his mother and father had told him about their own childhoods.

Talking about his parents, he said: "My father was a farrier, a blacksmith, he was a horse person and he was born in Small Heath and so was my mom. We were a family with a lot of connections to the Romany community.

"I remember going to Charlie Strong's scrapyard in Birmingham, and I asked my dad, 'Is this stuff stolen?' and he said 'No, Charlie just finds it before it's lost'."

'They were the people known at the time as the Peaky Blinders'

Knight also talked about his mother's own youth of being a 'bookies runner' which saw him carry fees for illegal bookmakers that at the time were known as the 'Peaky Blinders'.

He said: "At the age of eight or nine, she was employed by the local bookie called Tucker Wright, and she would walk down Green Lane with a basket of washing, as she walked past people they would drop their bets in.

"She would take it back to Tucker Wright's where there was a dog on a chain just short enough not to let the dogs bite the kids.

"She would edge her way around the Alsation and drop the basket off and she would get a six-pence. My dad's uncles were the bookmakers, they were the people known at the time as the Peaky Blinders."

'He was such a great bloke to talk to'

Going on to talk about his chance meeting with rapper Snoop Dogg, Mr Knight told of how the icon had flown to meet him to discuss the show, saying "he was such a great bloke."

Hearing the rapper's life story, Mr Knight said: "It was all about a family keeping you in and escaping from family to do the bad stuff, and then the family relocating their emotions and loyalties to follow you and then escaping again.

"He was such a great bloke. He was nice to talk to."

Mr Knight is also known for his recent hit BBC shot, 'This Town', which follows a group of youths during the 80s as they are drawn into the world of Ska and Two-tone music.

Steven Knight is currently in the final stages of writing a Star Wars script, also taking the time to open a TV and film studio in Birmingham called Digbeth Loc, where the Peaky Blinders movie will be shot.

Steven Knight's Desert Island choices

Disc one: I Want You - Bob Dylan

Disc two: Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald

Disc three: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise. Performed by Worcester Cathedral Choir / Worcester Festival Choral Society, directed by Donald Hunt

Disc four: Redemption Song - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Disc five: A Different Corner - George Michael

Disc six: Messetchinko Lio (You, Little Moon) - Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares

Disc seven: Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Disc eight: Keep Right On Until the End of the Road - Harry Lauder

Book choice: The Greek Myths by Robert Graves

Luxury item: A solar powered laptop

Castaway's favourite: Keep Right On Until the End of the Road - Harry Lauder