Charlie Heaton fronts Netflix sci-fi Below and joins Peaky Blinders next chapter

Charlie Heaton is back on Netflix, this time running from something under the water.

Below, a sci-fi limited series — meaning it tells one closed story rather than setting up season after season — arrived on Netflix on Oct. 8, starring Heaton alongside Josh Hartnett and Mackenzie Davis, Netflix Tudum reported.

The story is set in a seaside village in Newfoundland. Hartnett plays Calvin Penney, a fisherman fighting to protect his family and his community's vanishing way of life, according to Netflix. That fight turns strange fast. A mysterious sea creature terrorises the coastal town.

Heaton plays Wade Penney, one of Calvin's children. The part is listed as Wade Penney in Netflix's cast guide, which rates the 2026 series TV-MA, a US label signalling it is made for mature audiences. Davis co-stars in the central trio.

Behind the camera, the series was created by showrunner Jesse McKeown — the lead writer-producer in charge of the creative direction — with Jamie Childs serving as executive producer and director, The Hollywood Reporter reported. Heaton spoke to the trade paper via Zoom from his home in London about the shoot.

The timing was tight. Heaton joined Below in summer 2025 after wrapping Stranger Things and a multi-episode arc on season 4 of HBO's Industry. No pilot was shot first in the usual sense. The show was made as a limited run.

For viewers keeping track, this is two sharp turns in a row. Below puts Heaton in a present-day survival story. His next screen outing puts him inside one of Britain's best-known crime sagas.

Heaton plays Charles Shelby, the son of Tommy Shelby, in the new Peaky Blinders series. The BBC and Netflix released a first-look image of him in character in May, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The new run is set a decade after World War II.

Netflix is building two new Peaky Blinders series around a next-generation gang. Heaton stars alongside Jamie Bell, who plays Duke Shelby, in that next chapter, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

What makes this stand out is the workload behind the listings. A limited series gives its crew and cast one story to finish. A returning franchise asks them to restart one. Heaton has just done both, back to back.