PEAKY Blinders fans “physically recoiled” at Billy Grade’s return when his genitals were tortured with barbed wire.
Viewers of the BBC series were squirming at the horror scenes as they were forced to “imagine the pain” Emmett Scanlan’s character was enduring.
Back in season six, the Peaky Blinders kidnapped Billy and held him hostage and he was threatened by Arthur Shelby in almost every episode.
This time around, the gang’s head honcho told him to slay a football referee who had disobeyed them – which he did unwillingly – before sitting in an eerie green changing room to reflect on his mission.
As he perched topless on a bench, he heard a whistling sound through the tile-covered room.
Viewers saw mobster Jack Nelson approach from behind, armed with a wired clamp.
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He ripped off Billy’s towel and placed the item on his genitals – with viewers both witnessing the sound, and the sight of blood flowing down Billy’s leg.
This led one Peaky Blinders regular to take to Twitter to wince: “Jeezzzzzz I was in pain when I saw Nelson attack Billy 
”
Another then remarked: “I don’t even want to imagine the pain.”
A third commented: “Poor Billy. Even my b***s were hurting watching that #PeakyBlinders,” as another added: “Billy has had better days, hasn’t he?”
One then confessed: “My boyfriend just physically recoiled at that Billy and Jack scene! 
”
Another BBC viewer surmised: “Billy is having the day from hell to put it mildly.”
Meanwhile, actor Emmett took to Twitter prior to his character’s return as he wrote: Billy Grade is back….The 2nd last ever @ThePeakyBlinder
episode airs in less than an hour. Don’t miss it.
“In the meantime I got me a date with this fine specimen @BBCOne
.. #PeakyBlinders,” before uploading an image of a bottle of Shelby Dry Gin.
‘EPIC FINALE’
With the show’s final episode now on the horizon, director Anthony Byrne has promised viewers an “epic, feature-length” finale.
In a recent interview, Byrne confirmed that the final Peaky Blinders episode will clock in at an impressive 81 minutes long – with the Ten O’Clock News scrapped to make way for it.
He told the Radio Times: “It’s such a Peaky thing to do for the last hurrah. It’s the 10:22 news for one night only.
“It feels very, very different to the rest of the season. It feels very, very different to anything we’ve done before.
“It’s very epic in scope. It feels like a film – it’s a kind of dry run for the feature film.”
The show is already setting the scene for the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie.
Byrne also revealed that many of the new characters that viewers are meeting in this final season will be “part of what happens in the film”.
He also took the opportunity to explain why some fans may feel that this final run of episodes have a slightly different tone to them.
“Season six is a character piece about the darkness of Tommy Shelby’s soul,” he concluded.
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“It’s how far down is he going to have to go before he can get out – and will there be any left of him?”
Peaky Blinders returns on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.
