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Taboo: Tom Hardy's historical drama (BBC1/FX) [spoilers]


AncalagonTheBlack

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Thought i'd open up a thread as i'm sure many here are waiting to see this.:) Series premiere tonight at 9 pm in the UK on bbc1 .Will air on the 10th in the US on FX.

Some info and trailers:

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Eight-part event drama series reunites Tom Hardy with his Peaky Blinders and Locke collaborator Steven Knight who created the period adventure based on an original story by Hardy and his father Chips.

Hardy plays James Keziah Delaney who returns to 1814 London after 10 years in Africa to discover that he has been left a mysterious legacy by his father. Driven to wage war on those who have wronged him, Delaney finds himself in a face-off against the East India Company, whilst playing a dangerous game between two warring nations  Britain and America.

Joining him are House Of Cards Kelly as American doctor Dumbarton; Pryce as Sir Stuart Strange, the head of the East India Company and Delaneys nemesis; Oona Chaplin as Zilpha Geary, Delaneys half-sister; and David Hayman (Macbeth) as Brace, the trusted man-servant.

Further cast includes Jessie Buckley (Shades of Love); Ashley Walters (Get Rich Or Die Tryin); Jefferson Hall (Vikings); Ed Hogg (White Lightnin); Leo Bill (Alice In Wonderland); Christopher Fairbank (Guardians Of The Galaxy); Richard Dixon (The Kings Speech); Jason Watkins (The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies); and Nicholas Woodeson (Rome).

As Deadline previously reported, Kristoffer Nyholm (The Killing) is directing. Talent behind the camera also includes Director of Photography Mark Patten whose work includes upcoming sci-fi thriller Morgan for 20th Century Fox; Production Designer Sonja Klaus (Mr. Selfridge); Costume Designer Joanna Eatwell (Wolf Hall) and Casting Director Nina Gold (Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fiijqrKuc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZYAQSlIhM4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutRofYzjQ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiRTcrxDhSs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3bwwLcAZJ4

 

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I was wondering if there was a thread about this :) I'm looking forward to some proper Tom Hardy weirdness :) I love that such a high profile actor chooses to take time for work on the tele :) 

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8 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Hardy's been getting this project off the ground for 9 years, so he says in an interview from yesterday's NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/arts/television/tom-hardy-taboo-fx.html?_r=0

 

 

Strange interview, luckily he does look great with a beard :P 

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It does look promising -- the way Hardy described it, it sounds rather like a Count of Monte Cristo plot, right?

 But I won't be able to see it for a long time, probably, since it's on FX and I don't do cable or even have a television. 

I have always been dependent on the kindness of computers . . . . and dvd players, and Netflix, and very large monitors. :D 

So I'm much looking forward to what you people have to say about it.

 

 

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I watched the first episode. I think it may take a few more episodes to really judge it properly since there's a lot of mystery to the plot and characters at the moment, but it's definitely a well-made piece of television. Hardy brings a lot of intensity to the lead role and there's a good supporting cast (Jonathan Pryce is always great).

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Enjoyable first episode, very mysterious and appropriately dark. Hardy was brilliant and as Williamjm said the supporting cast are also good (even Oona Chaplin). Jonathan Pryce though, what a man. Seems to be well made and I look forward to the rest of the series. 

Specific question/clarification for this episode

So James and his half-sister were in love before he disappeared, right? I wonder if the child James visited was from the two of them?

 

 

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45 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Enjoyable first episode, very mysterious and appropriately dark. Hardy was brilliant and as Williamjm said the supporting cast are also good (even Oona Chaplin). Jonathan Pryce though, what a man. Seems to be well made and I look forward to the rest of the series. 

Specific question/clarification for this episode

 

  Hide contents

So James and his half-sister were in love before he disappeared, right? I wonder if the child James visited was from the two of them?

 

 

I thought it was a very good opening episode.It was tense,well shot and well acted.Hardy has that screen presence that very few actors possess,you just want to keep watching him.High Sparrow as the main antagonist was very good too. :D The last scene was tension filled,i was sure Hardy was going to visit violence upon someone.

Spoiler

yes,i think there were lovers and possibly the kid might be theirs.In the letter that Hardy gets from Oona,she implores him to "keep the secrets of the past buried".

Also,the man who's been looking after the boy tells Hardy that he and his wife have been looking after the boy for 10 years.Oona in her letter also mentions 10 years,the time that Hardy has been gone.

 

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1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Specific question/clarification for this episode

 

  Hide contents

So James and his half-sister were in love before he disappeared, right? I wonder if the child James visited was from the two of them?

 

It would explain why the show is called 'Taboo'. I didn't think about the second part, but as Ancalagon says the timelines do seem to roughly match up

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I'll agree with @williamjm for now. That first episode was a little bit to talkative for me. Not enough showing and too much telling, but I'll refrain from any judgement on that front for now. There is indeed lots of stuff going on we don't yet know about and they have to set the wheels in motion somehow.

I also did love the look of the whole thing. I was really impressed from the start with that opening shot of that ship. And Tom Hardy is always a pleasure to behold. I'm curious to see where this goes and I'm glad the BBC at least has one good series on at the moment, given how disappointing Sherlock was last week, they needed a winner here.

2 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Specific question/clarification for this episode

  Hide contents

So James and his half-sister were in love before he disappeared, right? I wonder if the child James visited was from the two of them?

 

 

Spoiler

Damn, that's a very astute observation :o I must admit I hadn't thought of that, but now that  you mention it, the boy being his child with his half-sister makes complete sense. I was feeling rather bored by yet an another incestuous love affair (they have become rather ubiquitous don't you agree?), so that's why I missed it I think. The addition of the child might make things a little less cliched, although I'm still more than a bit worried. I really wish writers would find something other than incest to turn to when they need something edgy.

 

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6 hours ago, Veltigar said:

 

 

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<>

 I was feeling rather bored by yet an another incestuous love affair (they have become rather ubiquitous don't you agree?), so that's why I missed it I think. The addition of the child might make things a little less cliched, although I'm still more than a bit worried. I really wish writers would find something other than incest to turn to when they need something edgy.

 

I agree with your sentiments, although I think they've made plain

Spoiler

that there was also cannibalism in his survival from the slave ship, I thought. 

Overall, an interesting start, although indistinct dialogue could be an issue.  We'll see.

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1 hour ago, Ser Quork said:

I agree with your sentiments, although I think they've made plain

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that there was also cannibalism in his survival from the slave ship, I thought. 

Overall, an interesting start, although indistinct dialogue could be an issue.  We'll see.

Yep I agree with that. 

Spoiler

I guess that each of those people he "saw" when he was tripping while he was with the physician man was some kind of "sin" (or "taboo"...) he committed in the past. 

The cannibalism I think you are right about. I thought it was funny the way Zilpha's husband kind of vaguely alluded to it ("...not kneel down beside them [carrion crows and dogs].") and then acted like he explicitly told her what her half-brother had done.

I know a lot of people say Hardy is often a bit incoherent/indistinct when he talks but I never had that problem with him. But then iPlayer has subtitles anyway 

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I could hear/comprend him just fine so long as the volume is sufficiently loud. But his vocal mannerisms are reminiscent of the role he played in that film I always forget the name of...I want to say Unforgiven? The one where he wears cardigans in a meaningful way. 

Anyway, yes, agreed that incest is a bit of a yawn these days. But obviously it will depend on how it's done. 

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18 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I'll agree with @williamjm for now. That first episode was a little bit to talkative for me. Not enough showing and too much telling, but I'll refrain from any judgement on that front for now. There is indeed lots of stuff going on we don't yet know about and they have to set the wheels in motion somehow.

I also did love the look of the whole thing. I was really impressed from the start with that opening shot of that ship. And Tom Hardy is always a pleasure to behold. I'm curious to see where this goes and I'm glad the BBC at least has one good series on at the moment, given how disappointing Sherlock was last week, they needed a winner here.

 

  Hide contents

Damn, that's a very astute observation :o I must admit I hadn't thought of that, but now that  you mention it, the boy being his child with his half-sister makes complete sense. I was feeling rather bored by yet an another incestuous love affair (they have become rather ubiquitous don't you agree?), so that's why I missed it I think. The addition of the child might make things a little less cliched, although I'm still more than a bit worried. I really wish writers would find something other than incest to turn to when they need something edgy.

 

A lot of the reviews mentioned that -- so periodly Bryonic as it appears.  A lot of the reviews were, um, less than stellar?

But it is a first episode.  It took some time for Ripper Street to find its footing in that first season too, though the two programs are set close to a century apart. (I finally finished watching Ripper Street's season 4 -- BBC should be running season 5 any time now, as amazilla's already run season 5).

 

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7 hours ago, Isis said:

I could hear/comprend him just fine so long as the volume is sufficiently loud. But his vocal mannerisms are reminiscent of the role he played in that film I always forget the name of...I want to say Unforgiven? The one where he wears cardigans in a meaningful way. 

Anyway, yes, agreed that incest is a bit of a yawn these days. But obviously it will depend on how it's done. 

At least in that one he'd had his throat cut but I just accept that Hardy loves to grumble in any role. That said he's clearly had a character tailor made for his acting predilections as everything about Delaney's character works. And that works for the show too. It's really hard to tell whether he's going to be an anti-hero or villain from the first episode which is cool.

They also set the mood well - what I especially liked was the spookiness. I'm pretty sure it's all an act but the way Delaney "knows things" and the excellent "dream" sequences blur the line between "real/imaginary". I don't know too much about the show but it could easily be a genuine supernatural show from what I've seen so far.

The show could maybe have done with a two-part opener as while I was intrigued and enjoyed it it was lacking a strong "hook" scene.

I liked how toffy the EIC toffs were. Very rah rah but I got the impression some of them, perhaps all, are more dangerous than mere wet behind the ear rich boys.

The only really disappointing element was the title sequence. No-one involved in the production team has watched "Vikings" or they'd have changed it.

As for spoilery comments

I had the exact same thought as Helenaex about the boy being the result of incest. It would partly explain why he had no interest in the kid as there may be guilt or even superstition there's something wrong about the kid. The only thing is that if the "taboo" is incest then it's a bit on the nose as that was heavily hinted/almost flat-out stated throughout the episode. I hope it's more to do with his exploits abroad.

Also, has FX weakened its policy on swearing of late? I always got the impression that "fuck" was off the cards on their shows but (unless they film alternate scenes for FX) they will be using "fuck" a few times here. I noticed "Atlanta" does too. Maybe it was a stylistic thing with other FX shows but it always struck me as odd how in "sons of anarchy" the motorcycle gang never dropped a F-bomb. Same with Archer, Sunny in Philli (where they bleep out words-possibly for comedic effect) and the Americans. I think it's better when shows have the freedom to say what they want - especially when you know people would use such language in the context of certain shows. If anything I found the EIC guy saying "fuck" a bit "off". I'm not sure that's something that class of people would say but then again that might just be my conditioning from watching how men in wigs talked at that time.

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25 minutes ago, red snow said:

At least in that one he'd had his throat cut but I just accept that Hardy loves to grumble in any role. That said he's clearly had a character tailor made for his acting predilections as everything about Delaney's character works. And that works for the show too. It's really hard to tell whether he's going to be an anti-hero or villain from the first episode which is cool.

They also set the mood well - what I especially liked was the spookiness. I'm pretty sure it's all an act but the way Delaney "knows things" and the excellent "dream" sequences blur the line between "real/imaginary". I don't know too much about the show but it could easily be a genuine supernatural show from what I've seen so far.

The show could maybe have done with a two-part opener as while I was intrigued and enjoyed it it was lacking a strong "hook" scene.

I liked how toffy the EIC toffs were. Very rah rah but I got the impression some of them, perhaps all, are more dangerous than mere wet behind the ear rich boys.

The only really disappointing element was the title sequence. No-one involved in the production team has watched "Vikings" or they'd have changed it.

As for spoilery comments

  Hide contents

I had the exact same thought as Helenaex about the boy being the result of incest. It would partly explain why he had no interest in the kid as there may be guilt or even superstition there's something wrong about the kid. The only thing is that if the "taboo" is incest then it's a bit on the nose as that was heavily hinted/almost flat-out stated throughout the episode. I hope it's more to do with his exploits abroad.

 

Also, has FX weakened its policy on swearing of late? I always got the impression that "fuck" was off the cards on their shows but (unless they film alternate scenes for FX) they will be using "fuck" a few times here. I noticed "Atlanta" does too. Maybe it was a stylistic thing with other FX shows but it always struck me as odd how in "sons of anarchy" the motorcycle gang never dropped a F-bomb. Same with Archer, Sunny in Philli (where they bleep out words-possibly for comedic effect) and the Americans. I think it's better when shows have the freedom to say what they want - especially when you know people would use such language in the context of certain shows. If anything I found the EIC guy saying "fuck" a bit "off". I'm not sure that's something that class of people would say but then again that might just be my conditioning from watching how men in wigs talked at that time.

The idea behind the show was one Hardy pitched to his father and he seems to have been very involved in production. So Delaney probably is tailored for him.

Quote

My dad writes, too. I went to him and I said, "Dad, I have this idea. I'd really like to play this character who does this." I pitched him the world and the tone and the character, and he was like, "Thanks, son, can you get out of my office? I'm working on a book." (Laughs.) I was like, "OK, just so you know, that's something I would really like to do." And I left it at that. I kicked it around a bit with some other people, and then it died a natural death. Then about eight months later, he came through with a treatment. He'd been quietly chipping away on it, and his treatment was awesome. We pitched it to Steve Knight, who I had done Locke and some Peaky[Blinders] with, and he came onboard.

 

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