"The end of a rope has been this man’s destiny since the night he was born."
Campbell about Thomas Shelby
Chester Campbell is a ruthless bureaucrat charged with rooting out subversion in Birmingham as well recovering a missing consignment of guns from the Birmingham Small Arms factory. He serves as the primary antagonist of Season 1 as well as one of the main antagonists in Season 2 of Peaky Blinders.
Character History[]
Background[]
Chief Inspector Campbell built his reputation in Belfast, Ireland, where he was tasked with ridding the city of crime and corruption. He is a detective chief inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary. During this time, he served with the father of Grace Burgess.
He did not fight in the First World War. This is something of a sore spot with Campbell, with Thomas Shelby in particular, making frequent comments about his "reserved occupation." He has been a police officer for thirty-five years.
Series 1 · 1919[]
When the Peaky Blinders accidentally acquired a crate that contained Lewis machine guns, ammunition, semi-automatic rifles, and pistols with shells, Winston Churchill sends Inspector Campbell to Birmingham to clean up the city and find the guns. Churchill charges Campbell with suppressing disorder and uprising in Birmingham.
Campbell first arrests Arthur Shelby, assuming that, as the eldest brother, he’s the leader of the Peaky Blinders. He asks Arthur what he knows about the robbery and beats him when he doesn’t give Campbell the answers he wants. However, he eventually learns from Grace, a spy he’s placed in the Garrison Pub, that the younger brother Thomas is really the leader of the gang.
Inspector Campbell then raids homes in the Blinders’ neighborhood, while Thomas and the gang are away at the races. Amongst other things, he starts looking for Freddie Thorne, a communist agent, who escapes. Campbell then tells Polly Shelby that he wants to meet with Thomas. However, Thomas first strikes a blow back at Campbell by paying everyone to build a bonfire with pictures of the King on Watery Lane, leaking the story to the newspapers. Word about the event spreads to Winston Churchill, who calls Inspector Campbell to express his displeasure.
When Thomas finally meets Inspector Campbell, he makes a deal for the special policeman to leave Thomas’s men and business alone. He tells him about his planned expansion onto the racetracks and business with Billy Kimber and that, once his business is done, he’ll tell Campbell where the guns are. Campbell reluctantly agrees to the plan.
With Freddie Thorne, now married to Ada Shelby, Thomas delivers the address of Stanley Chapman instead, another communist who is holding 200 pounds in cash given to the Communist Party by the Russian government. He later dies in police custody. Campbell also promises to let Freddie and Ada leave the city, although he later states to Sergeant Moss that a promise given to the Peaky Blinders means nothing.
Grace discovers that the Shelby family hide their contraband at moorings and junctions. Campbell searches them for the stolen guns, but finds only cigarettes and whiskey. Later, Grace learns that Ada is giving birth to Freddie's son and tells Inspector Campbell, who raids the Shelby home and takes Freddie away.
Thomas tells Inspector Campbell about an Irish man, Malacki Byrne, who is trying to buy the guns from him. He makes a deal that he can give Byrne to the police if the Inspector helps him with it. At a meeting in the Garrison, Campbell has the police take their time coming to Thomas's aid, who is almost killed.
Later, Grace meets with Inspector Campbell and tells him where she believes the guns are hidden, in exchange for promising that he will not harm Thomas. Inspector Campbell finds the stolen machine guns, all except one, in Danny Whizz-Bang's grave, as Grace had said. Considering the operation over, Grace officially resigns. To her shock, Campbell proposes to her. Grace kindly declines the proposal and Campbell angrily realizes that it is because of Grace's feelings for Thomas.
Inspector Campbell gathers up the policemen and raids the Garrison looking for Thomas, but when Campbell finds out that Thomas has escaped with Grace, he calls off the mission. Campbell visits outside of Grace's home and sees from the window that she is with Thomas and leaves.
Afterwards, Thomas learns that Campbell is at Mr. Zhang’s brothel and mocks him. Campbell retorts, saying that Thomas's heart will be broken by the time the day is over.
Winston Churchill telephones to praise Inspector Campbell for a job well done and Campbell tells him that before he leaves he has a plan for the Peaky Blinders so that they don’t go free. He informs Billy Kimber of Thomas's plans to betray him at the Worcester Races. As the Peaky Blinders and Billy Kimber's men converge for a gang war, Inspector Campbell ensures that the area will be free of policemen so the two gangs can hopefully kill each other. However, the gang war ends with only Billy Kimber and DannyWhizz-Bang dead.
In the end, Inspector Campbell follows Grace to the train station and points a gun at her. It is later revealed that Grace survived her confrontation with Campbell by shooting him in the leg through her handbag.
Series 2 · 1922[]
Fast-forward two years and Campbell is now a Major and a Chief of Staff in the Intelligence Service. He also walks with a wolf-headed cane due to Grace's bullet in the leg. Major Campbell is sent back to Birmingham by Winston Churchill to arrange the assassination of Field Marshal Henry Russell.
Major Campbell renews his acquaintance with Thomas Shelby when he interrupts Darby Sabini's men from killing Thomas. Later, Campbell visits Thomas in hospital, aware that he killed Eamonn Duggan, a fact he intends to hold over Thomas to use him as an assassin.
Campbell meets with Thomas, along with Irene O’Donnell and Donal Henry, the pro-treaty Irish. After a short discussion, Thomas refuses to carry the assassination and exits the meeting. Campbell goes after him, telling him he has no choice. Thomas reveals that Donal is a spy and the only way he’ll carry out the assassination is if Henry is killed. Henry’s body is soon found hidden in a pile of coal and Thomas starts planning the assassination.
Major Campbell puts pressure on Thomas by arranging for his brother Arthur to be hauled off to jail for a murder he didn’t commit and his cousin Michael arrested for burning down The Marquis of Lorne pub. When Thomas confronts him, he smugly reveals that he doesn’t think that Thomas truly fears his own death, so he had to keep him under leash by arresting a few family members to make him come to heal.
Polly is livid that her son Michael got involved and takes matters into her own hands to try and get Michael out of jail. Major Campbell offers to sign Michael's release form, in exchange for Polly providing him a sexual favor. Polly is disgusted by the act, but then reluctantly pleasures Campbell. Campbell then attacks and rapes Polly.
Later, Campbell gets a telephone call from Thomas, who tells him that he is about to sleep with Grace who is back in London. Meanwhile, Thomas botches Campbell's assassination plan by blowing up the Field Marshal’s residence so he’ll have to relocate and the assassination can take place where Thomas wants it to and on his terms: Epsom Racetrack on Derby Day.
Major Campbell hires "The Red Right Hand" of the Ulster Volunteer Force, to murder Thomas as soon as he carries out his assassination, in order to keep him quiet.
At Epsom, Campbell meets Thomas in the bar before the assassination, where the Major states that he has "the love of God and the certainty of salvation," whilst Thomas is destined to damnation.
Shortly after the assassination is carried out, the police gather around the King, leaving the premises unprotected. Polly corners Major Campbell in a phone booth while he’s on the phone with Winston Churchill and, despite his pleading, she shoots him in what is heavily implied to be his crotch, and exits the bar. He falls to his death. People start to notice the blood and call for help.
Personality[]
Campbell presents himself as a man on a mission to "wipe out the filth of the city." He comes across as authoritative, determined, and wholly against corruption and those who commit it or allow it to happen. However, Campbell is quickly revealed to be utterly hypocritical. While he is clearly dedicated to his job of upholding the law, he has no problem with using excessive brutality and underhanded methods to do so. He has no problems with asking his henchmen to carry out criminal acts, and then throwing them under the bus once they have outlived their usefulness to him. Campbell is a zealous, high-class Ulster loyalist and a sadistic rapist. His politeness is an act that only serves to enhance his evilness.
Campbell labels himself as a "good man" who is devoid of corruption. Yet clearly this is a delusion, as his behavior could be considered worse than Thomas Shelby's, a supposed violent gang boss. Campbell insults the Birmingham policemen who take bribes from the Peaky Blinders, yet he himself is willing to make deals with them to get what he wants. He has a kind of morality where otherwise evil actions are considered okay because he believes the victims deserve it. He has no qualms about tormenting people, both physically and mentally, though he clearly prefers to use physical torture, and it's implied that he even enjoys it. However, Campbell doesn't appear to be fully aware of this proclivity. For example, when sleeping with a Chinese prostitute he ends up severely hurting and brutally raping her during the act, but seems surprised to discover she is bleeding afterwards. He proceeds to ask her to keep him company despite his assault and the traumatized prostitute flees from him.
Campbell's fatal flaw is his sadism, as he cannot resist toying with his prey and giving them a chance to fight back, never believing that they will. He seems to deeply enjoy torturing women and taking advantage of them when they're in distress or vulnerable. He abhors confident women and does everything he can to try and make them small and submissive. When he learns his landlady, Mrs. Ross, was a former madam, he takes it as a personal insult. He humiliates, intimidates, and dismisses her, yet later has sex with her. During the act he tells her to shut up because he couldn't stand the noises she was making, clearly viewing her as there only for his pleasure. He extorts Polly into having sex with him in exchange for releasing Michael from prison. He tries to make Polly call him sir and beg him and during the act, he overpowers her and rapes her. His sadistic behavior leads to him getting shot by Grace, whose rejection he responds to with violence. It also allows Thomas to escape from right under his nose because he chose to gloat about how he had Thomas on the ropes while Thomas was badly injured in the hospital. When he brags about raping Polly, assuming she'll be too terrified of him to fight back, she shoots him in what is heavily implied to be his crotch, finally killing him for good.
Relationships[]
Grace Burgess[]
In season one, Grace Burgess is revealed to be an undercover agent working to recover the lost guns under his instruction. Prior to their arrival in Birmingham, little is known of their relationship beyond that he had worked together with her father in the past.
Early in the season, Inspector Campbell exhibited what seemed to be fatherly concern and affection for Grace, when he tells her to be careful in her undercover work around the Peaky Blinders and particularly, Thomas Shelby. He tells Grace that her father would've been proud of the work she's done.
As the season progresses, he blindsides a very confused and surprised Grace with a marriage proposal after the stolen guns are found. He is bafflingly and absurdly surprised by her rejection despite the fact that she never showed any romantic interest in him and she explicitly asked him to spare the life of Thomas Shelby, not in the capacity of an agent, but asking for his word on the matter "as a gentleman". His surprise quickly turns to anger as he deduces Grace's feelings for Thomas. In the first series finale, he draws a weapon on Grace at the train platform before she leaves; however, she fires first with a gun hidden in her bag, wounding him in the knee and leaving him with a permanent limp.
Thomas Shelby[]
The relationship between Thomas and Campbell is one of the most important relationships during the first and second series. Campbell is hired by Churchill to investigate the Peaky Blinders, but quickly becomes fixed on Thomas directly — particularly due to his relationship with Grace, who Campbell himself wishes to wed. When he finds out that Thomas and Grace are involved, the relationship between the two becomes more complex and Campbell begins to feel a personal resentment towards Tommy.
Campbell's resent and jealousy towards Tommy eventually leads to Campbell to work against him, hiring him to kill people on orders from the Crown (Winston Churchill himself). Eventually, Campbell hires the Ulster Volunteer Force to capture and kill Tommy, however his efforts are thwarted by Churchill himself.
Polly Gray[]
In the second series, Polly attempts to convince Campbell to release her son from prison by offering information. Campbell declines and when asked what it is that he wants, he makes it clear that he requires a sexual encounter for this "favour." Campbell then goes on to rape Polly, but he does releases her son. At the end of series 2, it is Polly that shoots and kills Campbell.
Appearances[]
Series 1 Appearances | |||||
Episode 1.1 | Episode 1.2 | Episode 1.3 | Episode 1.4 | Episode 1.5 | Episode 1.6 |
Series 2 Appearances | |||||
Episode 2.1 | Episode 2.2 | Episode 2.3 | Episode 2.4 | Episode 2.5 | Episode 2.6 |
Trivia[]
- Chester Campbell is possibly based on Charles Rafter, the police inspector who crushed the real-life Peaky Blinders. Both are tough Irish cops who showed up to deal with the Birmingham crime problem. However Charles Rafter was not nearly as corrupt as Campbell and he was far more effective in actually dealing with the gang. He did so by hiring hundreds of new officers and giving them leeway to literally fight the gangs, overwhelming them with sheer numbers.
Quotes[]
- Chester Campbell to the Birmingham policemen: "God damn you for soiling your uniforms!"
- Chester Campbell to the Birmingham policemen: "God help those who stand in our way!"