In early 2017, the BBC confirmed that Tom Hardy’s nineteenth-century romp Taboo will return for a second season, implying more James Delaney, more dirty comrades from the league of the damned, and even more grunting.
We are still waiting four years later. “James Delaney will continue to explore several worlds as he leads his band of misfits into a new universe, courtesy of FX and the BBC, partners who could not be more well-suited to working on ground-breaking material,” the show’s creator Steven Knight claimed at the time.
“We’re happy that fans want to know what happens next and that the BBC and FX are on board for future stories with the devil Delaney and the club of the damned,” executive producer Ridley Scott remarked.
Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s director of programming, praised season one as a “phenomenal success,” adding that the show’s “record numbers” of viewers were partly due to its inclusion on BBC iPlayer.
“Beginning in a fresh Saturday night slot on BBC One, let us take chances and showcase unusual drama, and the rising talkability of Taboo has engaged younger viewers, with record numbers streaming on iPlayer, with the box set boosting audiences even more,” she added.
“It cannot arrive fast enough for a second series.” Knight told RadioTimes.com: “Their decision to air something like Taboo on a Saturday night on BBC One was insane.
“However, it was also inspired since it worked. It sparked conversation and essentially established that slot. It paved the way for Saturday-night drama.”
We’re going to aggregate all the newest news in the run-up to Taboo season two’s upcoming airing because that’s how we roll. Everything you need to know is included here.
When Will Taboo Season 2 Premiere?
The first season premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2017, and FX in the United States on January 10, 2017.
The second season was initially scheduled to begin filming in early 2018. “I’m writing it as rapidly as possible,” series creator Steven Knight stated in mid-2017. “I’d say we’re hoping to shoot it… early next year.”
However, 2018 came and went, with Hardy and Knight’s hectic schedules supposedly impeding the release of other Taboo. Peaky Blinders is the brainchild of Knight.
He also wrote and directed Serenity, a thriller starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, and co-created See, a post-apocalyptic drama starring Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard for Apple TV+. Connor Swindells and Jack O’Connell star in his new drama series SAS: Rogue Heroes.
Hardy has also kept himself rather busy, starring in Venom and its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage. He also starred in 2020’s Capone and starred in the cop thriller Havoc, directed by Gareth Evans of The Raid.
Hardy and Knight collaborate on a new BBC One and FX production of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations.
The limited series will consist of six episodes, and Knight stated, “Adapting Dickens’ writing is a joy.” I picked Great Expectations as my next film adaptation, not just for the ageless characters but also for the extremely relevant tale.
“As the son of a blacksmith, Pip’s journey from the forge to society holds a particular place in my heart.”
“FX is honored to begin the next phase of cooperation with Steven Knight, Ridley Scott, Tom Hardy, and their teams on this modern adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations,” said FX Entertainment President Eric Schrier.
“[Great Expectations is] the ideal option, considering its contemporary and intimate tale,” Charlotte Moore continued. [Knight’s] unique take on one of the most beloved British classics will elevate it to must-see status for an entirely new generation.”
Returning to Taboo, we received an update in early 2019. Still, it wasn’t particularly encouraging: Knight indicated that the next series’ writing was “nearly” complete, but that production would not begin until late 2019 or maybe early 2020.
Then there came You Know What, which put a wrench in the works for the great majority of film and television industry professionals.
However, considering Hardy and Knight’s aforementioned hectic schedules, filming on Taboo had not even commenced at that moment.
Another reason for the show’s delay is that Hardy and his wife Charlotte Riley, who featured in Peaky Blinders as affluent widow May Carleton, had their first child in January 2019.
Knight said to Radio Times that pre-production had been put on hold as a result. Hardy did reveal some Taboo news in an August 2021 interview with Esquire.
“The second season of Taboo is quite important to me, and it’s taken a lot of thought since I loved the first one, and I want the second one to be as fulfilling,” Hardy explained.
“We’re currently experimenting with different ideas: we could continue linear, continuing time, or we could drop before London [the first season opened with Delaney returning to London after years in Africa], or we could quantum-leap overtime!”
I’m not sure whether to go orthodox — there is already a series of those written – but I’m not sure that’s the best course of action.”
Hardy has invested considerable time to contemplate the series’ future direction.
“In my thoughts, I was thinking, ‘Let’s pretend they make it to America or Canada, fast forward to 1968, the Tet Offensive, the Vietnam War, and examine the CIA, the Viet Cong, and the French in Saigon….’
Take the Delaney family tree into the jungle and reproduce the same familial dynamics in London, but with fresh faces, reflecting on how history and corruption repeat themselves.
“It remains taboo, it remains period, but it is the Sixties.” That is amusing. Or do we revert to the nineteenth century? What are the Napoleonic Wars? The American Revolutionary War? However, nothing has crossed my heart, mind, or desk that has made me say, ‘That’s it!’ so I’m hanging fire.”
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Who Will Feature in Taboo Season 2?
Hardy is now the solely confirmed returnee for Taboo season two — after all, he co-created the show with his father, Chips Hardy.
Hardy told us about the show’s roots in 2017: “It came about as a result of my role as Bill Sykes in [BBC One’s 2007 drama] Oliver Twist.
“To be quite candid, I desired to portray Bill Sykes, Sherlock Holmes, Hannibal Lecter, Heathcliff, and Marlow [from Heart of Darkness] in one role.”
Knight asked during an interview why he has such a positive working relationship with the show’s star, which may surprise you.
“I believe it works because we are not sociable,” he explained. “We do so on occasion, but not very frequently. I believe that the partnership is all about labor.
“The wonderful thing about Tom is that his job is his passion. The performance. He is not a celebrity fan. However, he adores acting. He is enamored with the process and the craft.
“Having him occasionally available to play roles you’ve created is amazing because you know you can trust him to deliver.”
Lorna Bow/Delaney (Jessie Buckley), Mark Gatiss (the Prince Regent), Stephen Graham (Atticus), David Hayman (Brace), Edward Hogg (Michael Godfrey), Jason Watkins (Solomon Coop), and Nicholas Woodeson are among the principal cast members. The latter might return (Robert Thoyt).
We’ll be updating this page as the second series approaches, so bookmark it for the most up-to-date cast announcements.
What Will Happen Next in Taboo season 2?
The first series concluded with James and his surviving companions sailing to America, and Steven Knight has already hinted at the direction in which he will take James’ narrative next.
“In my imagination, explosive things are going to happen, which is fantastic,” Knight explained. “There is an excellent destination for it, but I’m not sure we’re in a position to provide the specifics.”
He’s also hinted that the second chapter will see the program “go west and become a little bit more narcotic, a little bit more opium-affected.”
Hardy also discussed Delaney’s allies and why they are so drawn to him with Entertainment Weekly.
“He’s gathered quite a broad group… There is also a weird grandeur about that bunch, the less-than-polished elements of society,” he explained.
“I believe one of the most significant things that we had in the series’s original setting was the realization that James is the least savage person in the room, whether it’s the corporation or the king.
Those perceived as more savage by those on the outside, the voiceless, have banded together to leverage their collective intelligence into a force to be reckoned with.
“Everyone who gets aboard that boat is completely honest and honorable.”
When Can I View The Trailer for Taboo Season 2?
Not yet! First, we require the all-important air date (trailers usually land in the month leading up to the premiere). Once we get such information, we will have a better notion.