Steven Knight

Steven Knight is an English screenwriter, director and producer, best known as the creator and writer of the acclaimed BBC crime drama Peaky Blinders. Over a wide-ranging career he has moved between Oscar-nominated film screenwriting, directing and creating some of the most talked-about British television of the past two decades, becoming one of the UK's most prolific and influential screen storytellers.

Born on 5 August 1959 and brought up in Birmingham as one of seven children, Steven Knight was the first in his family to attend university, studying English at University College London. He began in radio and television comedy before breaking through as a film screenwriter, and his Birmingham roots later inspired Peaky Blinders, which draws on stories he heard about the city's early-twentieth-century world.

Steven Knight earned an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay for Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and went on to write films including Eastern Promises and Spencer, and to write and direct the single-location drama Locke, starring Tom Hardy. He is also one of the three co-creators of the global quiz format Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, adapted in around 160 countries, and in 2025 it was announced he would write the 26th official James Bond film.

Peaky Blinders (2013–2022)

SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022)

This Town (2024)

A Thousand Blows (2025)

House of Guinness (2025)

Steven Knight lives in the West of England and is reported to be married with children, but he keeps his private life largely out of the public eye. A lifelong Birmingham City FC supporter, he has often spoken publicly about his pride in Birmingham and his commitment to building a film and television industry in the city.

No independently audited net-worth figure is available for Steven Knight, and any numbers circulating online should be treated as unverified estimates. As a highly prolific screenwriter, director, series creator and co-creator of a globally franchised game show, his earnings are understood to be substantial, but no official figure has been disclosed.

Steven Knight is widely regarded as one of the defining British screenwriters of his era. Through Peaky Blinders he created a series that reshaped the image of period British drama and gained a devoted global following, while his co-creation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? gave him a footprint in popular culture across more than a hundred countries.

His investment in Birmingham, including the Digbeth Loc. studios, and his selection to write a James Bond film underline a standing at the top of the British screen industry. Awarded a CBE in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to drama and to Birmingham, he is seen as both a storyteller and an advocate for regional film-making in the UK.