Cillian Murphy has spoken of his sadness that Covid prevented the late Helen McCrory from filming any scenes for the upcoming new season of Peaky Blinders.

But he assured fans that the show’s bosses had made sure that her character is “still present in series six”.

McCrory, who played matriarch Polly Gray in the popular Birmingham-set crime drama, died aged 52 from cancer last April last year.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, filming for the sixth and final season had been halted meaning she was unable to film any new scenes before she died.

Reflecting on the “huge loss” of her death, Murphy, who plays her nephew, Tommy Shelby, said: “What I always feel sad about is that we were about to shoot and then the pandemic happened and we had to stop. If we had shot then, Helen would’ve been in the show, and that makes me feel sad.

“It’s a huge loss; it’s hard to comprehend it. Because she was the matriarch of the whole thing. As the character, but just also as her personality. But she’s still present in series six,” he told Empire magazine.

Adding: “[Creator Steven Knight] has managed to keep her very, very present, which I think is a brilliant tribute to Steve and also to Helen. But we couldn’t quite fathom it all as we were making it, you know?”

A release date for Peaky Blinders season six has yet to announced, but it’s expected to air on the BBC later this year.