‘Taboo’ season two is mostly written, confirms creator Steven Knight

But Tom Hardy's busy schedule means it may be a while before production begins

Taboo co-creator Steven Knight has given an update on season two of the show, revealing most of it has been written.

The 2017 BBC series, which the Spencer and Peaky Blinders writer created alongside star Tom Hardy and his father Chips Hardy, was originally renewed four years ago – though updates have been few and far between since.

Speaking to Collider, Knight has now confirmed that “six of the eight [episodes] are written,” and that they “are trying to get stars aligned so that we can get our star [Hardy] back on set”.

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However, the writer noted that Hardy is incredibly busy at the moment, joking: “He’s busier than me.” He went on to predict that the earliest filming would begin is “early 2023”.

Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy in ‘Taboo’ (Credit: BBC)

Taboo is set in 1814 and follows Hardy’s character James Delaney as he returns from a 12-year stint in Africa with stolen diamonds, which comes following his father’s death as the war with the United States draws to its end.

Back in August this year, Hardy shared his ideas for season two, telling Esquire: “The second season of Taboo is really, really important to me, and it’s taken a lot of thinking, because I really enjoyed the first one and I want to be really fulfilled by the second one.

“We’re still playing with ideas: you could go linear, a continuation of time, or we could drop prior to London, or we could quantum-leap through time! I don’t know whether to go orthodox – there’s a series of that already written – but I don’t know if that’s the right way to go.”

Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy – Credit: Alamy

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Hardy continued: “In my head I was thinking, ‘Let’s say they get to America, they get to Canada, fast-forward to 1968, the Tet Offensive, the Vietnam War, look at the CIA, the Viet Cong, the French in Saigon….

“Take the Delaney family tree out in the jungle, and recreate the same family dynamics that were happening in London but with new people, thinking about how history and corruption repeats itself. It’s still Taboo, it’s still period, but it’s the Sixties. There’s something fun about that.

“Or do we go back to the 1800s? The Napoleonic Wars? The American War of Independence?’ But nothing’s crossed my heart and mind and desk where I’ve gone ‘That’s it!’ so I’m hanging fire.”

Hardy most recently appeared in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. NME gave the film a two-star review and said: “After 2018’s Venom exceeded expectations by grossing $856million (£637million) worldwide, this sequel was as inevitable as a new iPhone.

“Sadly, despite replacing the first film’s director Ruben Fleischer with the always energised Andy Serkis, Venom: Let There Be Carnage doesn’t feel like much of an upgrade. It’s another sparky Tom Hardy performance trapped in a by-the-numbers comic book movie.”

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