"Peaky Blinders" returns to Netflix on Tuesday for a third season, with Murphy's real-life 1920s gangland boss Tommy Shelby orchestrating yet more post-WWI violence from the cobbled streets of Birmingham (the central English city).
According to the show's creator Steven Knight, Bowie, who died in January, sent the snap to Murphy out of the blue, said The Hollywood Reporter.
Before his death, Bowie had even ensured that the show could use his music, and apparently a Sony representative played Knight his last album "Black Star" before it as officially released.
"So, we contacted his people and asked if he'd like his music on the series and they were really keen. I had someone come to my house to play Black Star before it was released. They didn't say anything about his state of health, and a couple of days later it was announced he had died. We continued talking and episode five will have Bowie's music in it."