Taboo season 2 : The BBC announced in early 2017 that Tom Hardy’s 19-century adventure Tboo would return for a second season . This means more James Delaney and more of his grimy fellows from the leagues of the damned, as well as more grunting.
We’re still waiting five years later.
“James Delaney” will continue to explore new realities as he takes his misfits to a different world thanks to FX, BBC, and other partners who could not have been more suited to collaborating on ground-breaking work,” its creator Steven Knight stated at the time. (via RadioTimes).
Ridley Scott, executive producer, said: “We are thrilled people want to see what happens next and the BBC and FX will continue their adventures with Delaney and other members of the League of the Damned.”
Charlotte Moore, BBC director of content, described season 1 as a “phenomenal” success and said that it was mainly due to BBC iPlayer.
She said, “Launching a Saturday night slot on BBC One gave us an opportunity to take chances and showcase unique drama; and the growing talkability Taboohas engaged younger viewers seeing record numbers coming onto iPlayer, with box set availability maximising audiences even further.”
“A second series cannot come soon enough.”
Knight stated that RadioTimes.com was crazy when he spoke to Knight.
It worked. It created the Saturday-night slot by getting people talking. It was a pioneer in Saturday-night drama.
Season two could be even more intense.
Hardy originally wanted season one to be more, well… ‘taboo. Full frontal nudity was filmed by Hardy, which were later leaked and ultimately removed from the show. A loin cloth saved Delaney’s dignity (and that of the BBC) in the final cut.
“It was lucky that there was a cloth for me, because I didn’t want one. It’s not a period drama unless someone is naked and covers their body in blood. “You can’t have naughtiness as Game of Throneson BBC,” Hardy stated at the time (via First).
It’s been many years since Taboo was first published in 2017. Hardy’s star continues to rise since then. Perhaps season 2 will bring out Hardy’s transgressive desires.
We’re going to gather all the news from Taboo’s second season in one place. That’s how we roll.
This is everything you need to know.
Taboo season 2 release date: When will it air?
Some tentative good news. In May 2022 it was reported that Knight and Hardy were meeting up to discuss the direction of the show. In an interview with Broadcast (as reported by Radio Times) the co-creator said:
“I imagine that it will start production towards the end of next year. [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.”
With a production date penciled in for the end of this year fans shouldn’t expect something any time soon. At the very earliest season two could drop mid to late 2023 but a more realistic expectation would be 2024. We did say tentative good news.
Filming on series two was originally expected to begin in early 2018. “I’m trying to write it as quickly as I can,” said series creator Steven Knight in mid-2017. “I would say we would hope to be shooting it… early next year.”
But 2018 came and went, with Hardy and Knight’s busy schedules apparently holding up more Taboo. Knight is the brains behind Peaky Blinders. He also wrote and directed Serenity, the thriller starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, and created See, the post-apocalyptic drama for Apple TV+, starring Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard. More recently, he’s made the upcoming drama series SAS: Rogue Heroes with Connor Swindells and Jack O’Connell.
Hardy has also been pretty busy himself, having starred in Venom and its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage. He also played the lead role in 2020’s Capone and has cop thriller Havoc, from The Raid’s director Gareth Evans, on the way soon, too.
Hardy and Knight are also working together on a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations for BBC One and FX.
The limited series will have six parts, and this is what Knight had to say: “Adapting Dickens’ work is a delight. I chose Great Expectations as the next work to bring to the screen not just because of the timeless characters, but also because of the very timely story.
“As the son of a Blacksmith myself, Pip’s journey from the forge into society is a very special one to me.”
Taboo season 2 cast: Who will star?
So far, Hardy’s the only confirmed returnee for Taboo season two – he did co-create it with his dad, Chips Hardy, after all.
Hardy spoke to us about the show’s origins in 2017: “It came about from doing [BBC One’s 2007 miniseries] Oliver Twist and playing Bill Sykes.
“To be bluntly honest, I wanted to play Bill Sykes, Sherlock Holmes, Hannibal Lecter, Heathcliff, Marlow [from Heart of Darkness]… just every classical character in one.”
During an interview with Collider, Knight explained why he has such a good working relationship with the show’s leading man, and it might surprise you.
“I think it works because we don’t socialise,” he said. “We do occasionally but not very often. I think the relationship is totally about the work.
“The great thing about Tom is that’s his passion, the work. The acting. He’s not a fan of celebrity. But he just loves to act. He loves the process and the craft.
“For me, to have him occasionally available to do roles that you’ve written is wonderful because you know you can trust someone to really deliver what you do.”
Main cast members who could potentially return include: 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 (Robert Thoyt).
Then there’s the recurring cast – Scroobius Pip (French Bill), Roger Ashton Griffiths (Abraham Appleby), Tom Hollander (George Cholmondeley), Marina Hands (Countess Musgrove), Lucian Msamati (George Chister) and Louis Serkis (Robert, James Delaney’s half-brother) – all of whom could also make a comeback.
