FX had a pretty remarkable 2016, launching the two most acclaimed new series of the year, breaking Emmys records for basic cable, and sweeping critics’ best-of lists to close it out. And it’s looking like the network has plenty to look forward to in the months ahead as well—starting most intriguingly with the new limited series Taboo.
It’s been a long road for Taboo, spearheaded by Tom Hardy (The Revenant) and based on a fictional story he conceived with his father. Hardy enlisted his former Peaky Blinders collaborator Steven Knight as co-creator—and Ridley Scott as executive producer—back in 2014, when FX formally picked up the series. The network then released a debut trailer for the drama over a year later before dropping a 20-second teaser this past fall. The waiting game, in other words, has gone on for years. But finally, Taboo’s Jan. 10 premiere date is in clear sight.
Set in 19th-century Britain, Taboo centers on James Delaney (Hardy), the presumed-dead heir to the East India Company—which Knight has described as “the biggest, baddest multinational corporation on Earth”—as he returns from Africa to claim his father’s legacy. Awash in conspiracies, rule-bending, and gorgeous historical details, it appears to be the latest in a long line of expensive, ambitious (and violent) period dramas to be produced for TV. Whether Taboo can break out beyond the trend and prove itself to be FX’s next big hit is the question, at long last, that will soon be answered.
