Born Elizabeth Shelby, Polly was aunt to Peaky Blinders gang leader Tommy Shelby, his brothers Arthur, John and Finn, and their sister Ada Thorne.
Elizabeth Pollyanna "Polly" Gray (née Shelby) is the mother of Michael and Anna Gray, aunt of Arthur, Thomas, John, Ada and Finn Shelby, as well as being the matriarch of the Shelby Family.
For five seasons, McCrory had brilliantly played the part of Polly Gray, the aunt of Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and ferocious matriarch of the Peaky Blinders. Heading into season 6 (now streaming on Netflix), the show had to figure out how to honor both McCrory and her character.
A Peaky Blinders deleted scene has explained why Polly Gray betrayed Tommy Shelby in season 5 Credit: BBC It has now been revealed in a bonus scene shared on BBC One's official Twitter page... Finally, Polly decides to come for him at night and sleeps with him.
The Shelby siblings have had a difficult life, growing up with neither of their parents around. Mum Martha Shelby died and Arthur Shelby Snr (Tommy Flanagan) was left with their four children to look after. But it wasn't too long before he ran off, leaving his children in the care of aunt Polly Shelby (Helen McCrory).
Charlie was deeply in love with Mrs. Shelby, but never confessed his love for her, as she was married and had a family.
In short, Duke is Tommy Shelby's illegitimate son. Ahead of World War II the gang leader 'spent some time' underneath a hazelnut tree at the gypsy gathering, The Appleby Horse Fair'.
Realizing that Thomas won't get Michael out of prison soon enough, Polly takes the matter into her own hands. Campbell offers to release Michael the next morning but only in return for a sexual favor. Polly agrees to this deal. The next day, Michael tells her they told him what she did to get him out of jail.
While "Peaky Blinders" is mainly a show about violent men doing violent things, the women of the series are no slouches in that department, either. Chief among the ladies is Polly Gray (Helen McCrory), aunt to Tommy and his siblings and the official treasurer of the Peaky Blinders' bookie business.
Michael Gray is the son of Polly Gray and the cousin of the Shelby siblings. He was taken away from Polly at a young age and was raised by his adoptive mother. After Thomas learns about Polly's wish to find her children again, he pays Michael's foster family a visit and invites the boy to see his biological mother.
Instead, the creator decided that killing her off was the more honorable thing to do and the death is revealed early on in the new season. “We wanted to pay tribute to the character and hopefully the actor at the same time, so we wanted that to be part of the show.”
Later on in the season, Billy is seen being held by his mother, in the living room of their house in Birmingham. Arthur then comes home drunk, so Linda puts Billy to bed upstairs. Billy is last seen being held by his mother, at his supposedly dead father's funeral.
Thomas Michael 'Tommy' Shelby OBE DCM MM MP is the son of Arthur and Mrs. Shelby, brother of Arthur, John, Ada and Finn Shelby, father of Charles and Ruby Shelby, as well as being the husband of Grace and Lizzie Shelby.
But without McCrory, the show acted swiftly in deciding Polly's fate. In the opening of Peaky Blinders' sixth season, it's revealed that Polly has been killed by the very same people who ruined Tommy's assassination plan against Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin) in the season 5 finale.
Finn Shelby is the youngest member of the Peaky Blinders, a son of Arthur Shelby Sr. and Mrs. Shelby and the youngest brother of Arthur, Thomas, John, and Ada Shelby. He is later married to Mary Shelby.
Martha Shelby was the first wife of John Shelby. She is the mother of four of John Shelby's children. Martha raised their children while he was away at war, and appears to have been a good mother and wife. She died before the first series begins.
Polly's Past, Revealed (Season 1, Episode 6)
Gazing down at Ada's newborn son Karl in his cradle, Polly tells her niece how her own children were taken by the police when they were 2 and 5 years old after a neighbor snitched on her for illegal dealings.
Tommy Flanagan as Arthur Shelby Sr. (series 1), the father of the Shelby siblings and Polly's brother.
She was eventually sent to Australia where she supposedly died of "Spring Fever," a mosquito-borne illness with symptoms akin to influenza and arthritis. Her body's buried there. Thomas tells Polly that Anna was never able to settle and tried multiple times to return to England. Polly learns Anna has died.
Her murder, which happened off-screen, was punishment for his machinations and meant to bring him to heel. Polly is given a Gypsy funeral, her caravan being set on fire with her body inside, and Michael swears to avenge her, blaming Tommy for her death.
Why does Polly betray Thomas? She wanted to emigrate to Australia with her son Michael, but he refused until the threat was over. She made it look as though she was betraying Tommy to Luca in exchange for protection for Michael. Really, Polly was in cahoots with Tommy and let him know when Luca planned to ambush him.
I think he burned it as an attempt to start moving on - “… maybe it's time you forgot about her?” as Polly recommended, fed up with his moping.
He is informed by Doctor Holford (Aneurin Barnard) that he has tuberculoma and has at best, a year and a half to live. He is certain now that his death is imminent.
That suggests that Tommy's handing on a mixture of "you're up, kidda" business stuff and straightforward "I'm gonna die, kidda" stuff. Certainly, that's what the direction and editing hints at. We see young Charles, buttoned up in his grey coat, looking distinctly miffed.
Ruby Shelby was the daughter of Thomas and Lizzie Shelby and half-sister of Charles Shelby.