Tom Hardy's Eight-Episode Thriller Taboo Is Aging Brilliantly

Tom Hardy's presence anchors Taboo, an eight-episode historical thriller he co-created with his father Edward "Chips" Hardy and Steven Knight. Set in grimy, unforgiving 1814 London, the show is slow, dense and unapologetically strange; it has gained a cult following and plays especially well on a binge, revealing a meticulously crafted drama and one of Hardy’s most hypnotic performances.

Hardy plays James Keziah Delaney, a man long presumed dead who returns from Africa after more than a decade away. His reappearance coincides with his father's death and a small but strategically vital piece of land that pits him against the East India Company, embodied by Sir Stuart Strange (Jonathan Pryce), as well as representatives of the British Crown and American interests, including the calculating Atticus (Stephen Graham).

What begins as a dispute over land expands into political manipulation, corporate greed, espionage and colonial exploitation, with no clear heroes among its competing forces.

tom hardy, taboo, james delaney, east india, jonathan pryce, stephen graham, 1814 london, historical thriller, colonial exploitation, cult following