A painfully unappreciated series led by Oscar-nominee and Mad Max: Fury Road star Tom Hardy

is finally finding some success thanks to free streaming. Only running for one season (so far, anyway), the period psychological thriller Taboo has now entered the free streaming charts, and finds Hardy in the lead as the mysterious and mercilessly intense James Keziah Delaney, an adventurer who returns to 1812 London to rebuild his late father’s shipping empire.
Debuting back in 2017, Taboo was created by Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, Tom Hardy, and his father, Chips Hardy. Featuring a stellar cast that includes Leo Bill, Jessie Buckley, Oona Chaplin, Stephen Graham, Jefferson Hall, and David Hayman alongside Hardy, Taboo more than lives up to its title as it plunges audiences into the dark side of 19th-century London and the political and business corruption, violent gangs, and misery that plagued the city.

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Taboo is now in the top 10 on Freevee, reaching all the way up to #4 so far, and you can check out the official synopsis for the series below.

“Adventurer James Keziah Delaney, long believed to be dead, returns home to London from Africa in 1814 in order to inherit his late father’s shipping empire. All is not what it seems, however, as Delaney encounters numerous enemies intent on making his life back in the United Kingdom very difficult. Focused on building a shipping empire to rival the imperious East India Company, Delaney’s other wish to seek vengeance for his father’s death means conspiracy, betrayal and bloodshed are also in the cards. As he works to accomplish that, Delaney must also navigate increasingly complex territories in order to avoid his own death sentence.”

Will We Ever See ‘Taboo’ Season 2?

BBC 1FX

While Taboo largely flew under the radar with audiences, the series was met with some awards love, finding itself nominated at both the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Satellite Award, among others. The series boasts an impressive score of 91% from audiences on the Popcornmeter, alongside a solid 76% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. “After a sluggish start, Taboo takes hold as a mysterious, dark, and often brutal period drama with plenty of promise as a series — most notably evident in Tom Hardy’s exceptionally watchable performance,” the critics’ consensus reads.
A second season has yet to materialize, but producer Dean Baker revealed back in 2023 that Taboo Season 2 is in the works. “Currently we are working on a second season of Taboo, and hopefully we will get to explore more Dickens [like Great Expectations] with Steve, Ridley, and Tom,” Baker explained to Radio Times. A second outing is also something that both Tom Hardy and Steven Knight are eager to make happen, with the latter saying in 2022, “[Tom and I] are both keen to continue and there are lots of people who want us to continue in that direction. It’s been a question of schedules and deciding where it goes next.”
Tom Hardy is currently busy bringing the action to Netflix in next month’s Havoc, as well as joining James Bond star Pierce Brosnan in the Paramount+ series, MobLand. Steven Knight, meanwhile, has found success with his latest period drama series, A Thousand Blows.
Source: Radio Times

taboo

Release Date

2017 – 2016

Network

BBC