Taboo (2017 TV series)

Did You Know?

• Season 1 was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the US and Canada by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment on February 6, 2018, and in Europe by StudioCanal on May 29, 2017.
• French and German dubbed releases came out on April 13, 2017, and May 9, 2017, respectively.
• The US/Canada DVD set contains two discs, while the European release has three discs.

Production

Taboo was developed by Steven Knight, Tom Hardy, and his father Edward "Chips" Hardy, drawing from a story the two Hardys wrote. Knight and Tom Hardy had collaborated before on the 2013 film Locke and the TV series Peaky Blinders. Kristoffer Nyholm and Anders Engström directed the first season, with a score by Max Richter. A second season was announced in March 2017. By November 2021, six of the planned eight episodes were written, with filming waiting on Hardy’s availability. In May 2022, Knight targeted late 2023 as a possible start for production. Producer Dean Baker stated in March 2023 that work on the second season was ongoing, though a release date remains unannounced.

Broadcast

Taboo premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2017, and on FX in the United States on 10 January 2017. The US debut episode drew 1.839 million viewers and a 0.6 rating in the 18–49 demographic. Its Live+3 figures reached 3.43 million viewers, with a time-shifted increase of 101% in the demographic, a record for FX. The first season averaged 1.33 million viewers per initial airing in the US, but rose to 5.8 million per episode across all platforms including replays, delayed viewing, and streaming.

Reception

The series received generally favourable reviews, with critics praising Tom Hardy's performance, the visual presentation, and the slow-burn pacing. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 78% approval rating from 45 reviews, with an average score of 7.03/10; the critical consensus notes that after a sluggish start, Taboo becomes a mysterious, dark, and often brutal period drama with promise, particularly due to Hardy's watchable performance. Metacritic gives a score of 67 out of 100 from 32 critics, indicating generally favourable reviews. Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph awarded 3 out of 5 stars, stating the series feels original despite borrowing from westerns, gangster films, and Charles Dickens. Sam Wollaston of The Guardian remarked that while some dialogue makes one wince, Hardy's acting and presence compensate. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called it a solid entry in FX's lineup, if slow early on, with a compelling turn by Hardy. Kevin Yeoman of Screenrant described it as a dark, slow-moving but intriguing drama with secrets to dispense, likely appealing to those drawn to Hardy's intense, gloomy menace. Some historians expressed concern about the portrayal of the East India Company. Before broadcast, Steven Knight described the Company as equivalent to the CIA, NSA, and a multinational corporation combined. Economic historian Tirthankar Roy argued the series gave an excessively negative view, while Nick Robins, author of The Corporation That Changed the World, acknowledged the Company's positive contributions but noted it had outlived its usefulness by the time it was dissolved.