‘Taboo’ boss says long-delayed Season 2 might now never be made!

There’s bad news for Taboo fans still waiting for the show to return.

Created by Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight with actor Tom Hardy and his father, Chips Hardy, the BBC’s dark period drama series launched over two and a half years ago on FX in the USA and on BBC One in the UK.

Set in 1814, the first season followed James Keziah Delaney (Tom Hardy), a man believed to be long dead who returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father’s shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself.

A second season of eight episodes was officially commissioned in March 2017, but it’s all gone very quiet since then.

It was rumoured earlier this summer that filming was finally set to begin at the end of the year or early 2020.

However, FX chairman John Landgraf says the network still has no idea if new episodes of Taboo will ever be made.

Landgraf told Deadline: “I can’t even tell you how many conversations we’ve had but we literally talked to [writer Steven Knight] about it yesterday. He has an idea for a potential second and a potential third season of Taboo.”

He revealed: “It really just comes down to Tom [Hardy]; it comes down to what Tom wants to do, when he wants to do it, when he is available.

“I could see both those seasons getting made and relatively soon, and I could see neither of those seasons getting made.”

The delay seems to be down to Tom Hardy’s busy schedule, with the actor set to begin filming a sequel to superhero movie Venom soon.

John Landgraf says there is a chance Taboo could return with a smaller role for Tom Hardy’s character.

He said: “We’ve talked about — and are still talking about — the possibility of doing a season of which Tom would be a part of but not at the very center of it. He seems very emotionally, very committed to this character, though, and very committed to this show. And Steven is still passionate and wants to write it, but it comes down to Tom’s availability.”

In the meantime, Peaky Blinders returns for a fifth season on BBC One later this month.

The makers of Taboo are also adapting Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for BBC One this Christmas.

The first season of Taboo is available on DVD on Amazon.