Tom Hardy’s darkly surreal FX miniseries Taboo looks ominous and revenge-fueled.
FX has one of the more intriguing upcoming television events in its stable with Taboo. The 8-episode dramatic miniseries represents a pond-crossing co-production between the Fox American cable outlet and BBC One. Brandishing A-list star Tom Hardy, the 1814-drama showcases the shadowy spiritual journey of a presumed-dead man who returns home to London from a decade-long African sojourn, brandishing dark knowledge to right wrongs regarding his late father’s legacy, acting as a revenant of sorts.
Indeed, based on what we know, the miniseries will see Hardy’s Delaney returning home as a man of not only two continents, but two spiritual planes, carrying out an agenda that remains mysterious. The implications in Delaney’s business dealing could have international ramifications, involving merchant ships and the East India Company, connecting to the War of 1812. However, given the macabre imagery we’ve been seeing in the trailers, I wouldn’t expect anything akin to a documentary on The History Channel.
Taboo FX Trailer
“Forgive me father, for I have indeed sinned.”
A new Taboo trailer has arrived, focused on the return of Tom Hardy’s James Keziah Delaney’s mind-blowing return to early 19th century London after being presumed dead for several years. Having been betrayed by a conspiracy involving the Crown, the East India Company and even… gulp, the Americans, Delaney spent his prolonged exile in Africa, tapping into his spiritual side, emerging as a menacing man with a mysterious purpose.
Delaney’s more immediate goal, however, is pure revenge. Indeed, the new trailer shows him sending shockwaves to all the wrong people in London. When he’s not scaring the crap out of some avariciously corrupt people who hide shameful skeletons in their closets, he’s fending off assassins in alleys with stabby precision! It’s pretty clear that Delaney won’t be denied his revenge and the 10-episode miniseries should be an intense showcase of uber-violent justice.Check out the latest trailer below!
Check out the earlier trailers, too...
Taboo Release Date
In an announcement that was nearly a year in the making, FX has revealed that Taboo will premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 10/9c. However, fans in the U.K. can catch it first on January 7 on BBC One.
Taboo FX Story
Set in 1814 London, Taboo has Tom Hardy playing a character names James Keziah Delaney. After having spent 10 years in Africa, Delaney returns home to discover that his father has left him a mysterious and rather dubious business legacy that he is compelled to correct. Delaney soon finds himself clashing with the powerful East India Company in a situation that will see tensions escalated to international levels, involving the conflict between Britain and the then-embryonic nation of the United States. Of course, a key theater in the three-year-spanning War of 1812 involved maritime aggression between merchant ships.
Interestingly enough, in Taboo, Tom Hardy has a project that he actually helped co-create along with Steven Knight, who created Hardy’s other part-time television series platform, Peaky Blinders. Also having a hand at creating this story, was Tom's father, Chips Hardy, who had a few writing credits for UK television series’ in the late 1980’s. However, the younger Hardy will have quite the amount of pull, since the series will be a co-production between Ridley Scott’s Scott Free London and Tom Hardy’s own company, Hardy Son & Baker.
Taboo FX Cast
Besides the commanding and increasingly ubiquitous presence of Hardy, the show also features a sprawling and impressive supporting cast of international players with name such as Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Everest), Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean series), Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones, Quantum of Solace) and David Hayman (Macbeth, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), and others.