(FX)

It seems Tom Hardy and Steven Knight’s confidence was well placed. Their Taboo TV show has been renewed for a second season on FX and BBC One. Hardy and Knight executive produce the series with Ridley Scott, Kate Crowe, and Dean Baker.

An 1800s period drama, Taboo stars Hardy as James Keziah Delaney. The FX cast also includes Oona Chaplin, Jefferson Hall, Jonathan Pryce, Stephen Graham, Michael Kelly, Jessie Buckley, David Hayman, Tom Hollander, Jason Watkins, Franka Potente, Ed Hogg, Leo Bill, Christopher Fairbank, Richard Dixon, Mark Gatiss, Nicholas Woodeson, Lucian Msamati, and Robert Parker.

While the Taboo season two renewal news is not yet up on the FX press site, Deadline has already reported it. Here’s more:

The series began airing in January in both the UK and U.S., drawing a keen fanbase. For the BBC, it’s one of the most successful dramas ever on catch-up service iPlayer and has been popular with younger audiences. The FX premiere was the net’s most time-shifted series ever in the 18-49 demo and the most time-shifted FX drama series bow in total viewers.

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Hardy said today, “We are grateful and excited to continue our relationship with the BBC One and FX in contributing towards British drama. Fantastic news.”

Knight added, “I’m thrilled that a work which pushes boundaries has been so well received and found such a large and enthusiastic audience in the U.S. and Britain. We have tried to take an impressionistic, rather than figurative, approach to a narrative which we hope more accurately portrays the spirit of an extraordinary time in history. James Delaney will continue to explore many realities as he takes his band of misfits to a new world, thanks to FX and the BBC, partners who could not be more suited to collaborating in ground breaking work.”

Exec producer Scott also chimed in, “We’re thrilled people want to know what happens next and that the BBC and FX are up for more adventures with the devil Delaney and the league of the damned. Along with our international distributors, Sonar Entertainment, the BBC and FX have been great partners, supporting Taboo at every stage so it could be the dark, dirty brute of a drama that it is.”

The new eight-part season was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content and Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama. It will be produced by Scott Free London and Hardy Son & Baker for BBC One and FX with Sonar Entertainment distributing worldwide outside the UK. Executive producers are Scott and Kate Crowe for Scott Free, Tom Hardy and Dean Baker for Hardy Son & Baker, and Knight.

Moore noted that launching in a new Saturday night slot on BBC One “provided us with an opportunity to take risks and showcase distinctive drama; and the growing talkability of Taboo has engaged younger audiences seeing record numbers coming to iPlayer, with the availability of the box set maximizing audiences even further. A second series can’t come soon enough.”

Taboo TV Show on FX: A Look At The Ratings

 
In its first season on FX, Taboo averaged a 0.43 rating in the 18-49 year old viewer demographic and 1.235 million viewers. Of the 15 FX scripted series we’re tracking in the 2016-17 television season, Taboo ranks fifth when we sort the ratings by the demo numbers, and sixth in terms of average total audience. In other words, the season two renewal comes as no surprise.

What do you think? Have you watched the first season of the Taboo TV series? Do you plan to watch season two on FX or BBC One? Let us know, below.