Watch Tom Hardy in Peaky Blinders as gang leader Alfie Solomons

The Dark Knight Rises star will be seen in Thursday's episode of the drama

Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy as Tommy Shelby and Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders series two (BBC)

Tom Hardy will make his debut as threatening gang leader Alfie Solomons when the second episode of Peaky Blinders series two airs on Thursday.

The English actor, best known for his role as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, stars as the London crimelord based in Camden Town at the end of the Grand Union canal connecting the capital with Birmingham.

Peaky Blinders series 2, episode 1, review

Problems arise when ambitious fellow gang boss Tommy Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, plans to expand his operations southwards from the Midlands, bringing him into perilous conflict with Solomons.

"Bring him down mate, bring him down, he's only little," Solomons says in welcome to Shelby, calling him a "brave lad" for coming to visit him alone. Soon, Shelby discovers what is really going on at Solomons' Camden 'bakery'.

Business is booming for Birmingham's Peaky Blinders gang (named as such for the razor blades they sew into the peak of their caps) as the Twenties begin to roar in series two. The official synopsis promises the return of an enemy from Shelby’s past who has ominous plans for a "revenge of biblical proportions".

Charlotte Riley, Helen McCrory and Noah Taylor also star in the new run, described by the BBC as an "enthralling tale of ambition, corruption, violence, desire and above all an extraordinary family living through extraordinary times".