Tom Hardy at his delicious darkest
People have just discovered the sleeper hit Taboo, a 2017 BBC drama starring Tom Hardy, has finally been put on Netflix and they can’t get enough of it.
Despite having been available on BBC iPlayer ever since its release, many people are now revisiting the Steven Knight drama – the same man behind Peaky Blinders – as well as discovering it for the first time.
Celebrating its launch on the platform, Netflix Italia simply tweeted: “Appreciation post for Tom Hardy in Taboo”.
Post di apprezzamento per Tom Hardy in Taboo 🙌 pic.twitter.com/vBx8MoMOot
— Netflix Italia (@NetflixIT) March 13, 2022
Enjoying season 1 of TABOO (2017) so far. Tom Hardy is a ham. Some very nice cinematography and early 1800's grittiness. pic.twitter.com/zJKzvXAT6F
— Jim Maxwell (@1jcmaxwell) March 15, 2022
Without giving too much away, Hardy stars as James Keziah Delaney, a mysterious, violent and rebellious character based on a story he wrote himself, along with his dad, Edward. It’s set in London as it leaves the Regency period and enters into a grittier Victorian era.
The plot is too complex to explain, but there are some historical aspects.
Here’s how one viewer described it:
'Taboo' is on netflix. If you ever wanted to see Tom Hardy play an outrageously violent sex wizard in gothic Regency finery, doing all crimes and revenges, you'll like it. Same showrunner as 'Peaky Blinders'.
— Crow Land (@crowlandpub) March 15, 2022
As well as having the draw of Knight’s pedigree, Ridley Scott was also involved in the project which is often cited as one of Hardy’s greatest performances.
Yes, there’s plenty of his trademark mumbling and grunting – though he doesn’t pull out the same cockney accent he uses for Alfie Solomons.
https://twitter.com/FerenciStu/status/1503664655264145412?s=20&t=vdNTcKkY70F3sMVDuvwT4w
When it was released, Taboo, received a good response from critics, but its dark themes didn’t make it a smash hit with viewers, though it has a 92 per cent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
That being said, people now seem to be genuinely annoyed that they’ve only just stumbled upon it:
Taboo is without a doubt one of the best shows I've seen in a long time and probably Tom Hardy's best performance. Sucks it only ran for 1 season and it took me 5 years to even hear about it. pic.twitter.com/hAveeswEzM
— Fienix (@CallMeFienix) March 13, 2022
Having been made in association with FX in the US, the only other thing that people seemed to be surprised and upset about is that there hasn’t been a second season yet.
If I ever meet Tom Hardy I’m going to hand him all the money in my wallet and earnestly tell him to put it toward season 2 of TABOO
— William 🌹 Kuechenberg (@scriptz4sale) March 9, 2022
Could this second wave of viewership change that? In an interview in November last year, Knight suggested another season was coming…. but he didn’t say when.
You can watch the trailer for Taboo below, which is now available on Netflix in numerous countries:
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