SERIES PREMIERE: Tom Hardy stars in this first new FX series of 2017, and it’s a daringly different type of role, series, and setting. Most of the action takes place in London, but it’s the London of 1814, when England is still reeling from the revolt of the American colonies. Hardy plays James Delaney, an adventurer with a strong claim on a key piece of land wedged between territories, and claimed by both British and U.S. interests. Flashbacks take Hardy, and the viewer, back to Africa and a decade before, with stories of slaves, savagery, and the powerful East India Company. Jonathan Pryce plays the main bad guy, and co-stars include Oona Chaplin. Visually and structurally, it’s a dense and different series. Taboo is co-written by Hardy, his father Chips, and by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, the writer-director who directed Tom Hardy in their joint cinematic triumph, the 2013 movie Locke. For full reviews, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower and Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.

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