"TABOO" STARRING TOM HARDY BEGINS FILMING IN LONDON - OTHER MAJOR CAST ANNOUNCED FOR BBC ONE/FX DRAMA

LOS ANGELES, November 23, 2015 - TABOO, a major eight-episode drama series created by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Locke) and directed by Kristoffer Nyholm (Danish TV series The Killing, The Enfield Haunting) for BBC One and FX, is to start filming in London this week starring Tom Hardy in the lead role alongside a major international cast.

TABOO will star Hardy as '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.

Alongside Hardy's protagonist 'James Keziah Delaney' is Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Everest), who plays American doctor 'Dumbarton,' Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean, Brazil) as 'Sir Stuart Strange,' the head of the East India Company and Delaney's nemesis, Oona Chaplin (The Crimson Field, The Hour) as 'Zilpha Geary' James' half-sister, and David Hayman (Macbeth, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) as 'Brace,' Delaney's trusted man-servant.

Jessie Buckley (Shades of Love, Trevor Nunn's A Little Light Music) plays 'Lorna Bow' who lays claim to James' father's will. Ashley Walters (Get Rich or Die Tryin', Bullet Boy) is a dangerous face from James' years in Africa. Jefferson Hall (Vikings, Our World War) plays 'Thorne Geary,' Zilpha's husband; Ed Hogg (White Lightnin', Anonymous) is 'Godfrey,' Delaney's cross-dressing spy inside the East India Company, Leo Bill (Alice in Wonderland, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is 'Wilton,' Strange's fashionable, amoral accomplice; Christopher Fairbank (Guardians of the Galaxy, Hercules) as 'Ibbotson,' a man to whom James is indebted; Richard Dixon (The King's Speech, Mr. Turner) is 'Pettifer,' Strange's right hand man; Jason Watkins (The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, Nativity) is 'Solomon Coop,' the Prince Regent's right hand man and Spy Master; and Nicholas Woodeson (Rome, The Living and the Dead) is lawyer 'Thoyt,' the Delaney family's former lawyer.

Talent behind the camera includes Director of Photography Mark Patten whose work includes upcoming sci-fi thriller Morgan for 20th Century Fox, Production Designer Sonja Klaus (Mr. Selfridge, Babylon A.D.), Costume Designer Joanna Eatwell (Wolf Hall, Eric & Ernie) and Casting Director Nina Gold (Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens, The Martian).

Ridley Scott's Scott Free London and Tom Hardy's Hardy Son & Baker are producing for BBC One and FX, with Sonar Entertainment distributing worldwide outside the UK. Executive producers are Ridley Scott and Kate Crowe for Scott Free, Tom Hardy and Dean Baker for Hardy Son & Baker, and Steven Knight, with Timothy Bricknell (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, The Fear) producing. TABOO is based on an original story by Tom Hardy and his father Chips Hardy who is also the show's consulting producer. The series was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller BBC One.

Tom Hardy's credits include The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, and Warrior. He most recently played the lead role in Mad Max: Fury Road, in Brian Helgeland's Legend playing both Kray Twins, and opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Alejandro Gonz�lez I��rritu's The Revenant.

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About Scott Free Films

Award-winning filmmaker Ridley Scott set up Scott Free London in early 2010 as an independent development and production outfit for theatrical feature and television content. The company has since produced the Kevin Macdonald-directed YouTube backed sensation LIFE IN A DAY, as well as follow-ups BRITAIN IN A DAY, JAPAN IN A DAY, and (in conjunction with sister company RSA Films) CHRISTMAS IN A DAY and SPRINGSTEEN AND I. The company is currently in production on INDIA IN A DAY for Google, directed by Richie Mehta. September 2014 saw the release of psychological thriller BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by Rowan Joffe, starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong, and based on the best-selling novel by SJ Watson. Christopher Smith's family comedy GET SANTA also came out in December 2014 through Warner Bros in the UK and Wrekin Hill in the US, starring Jim Broadbent and Rafe Spall. The company is currently in post-production on Sean Foley's comedy MINDHORN for StudioCanal and BBC Films. Scott Free London has a number of feature and television projects in development, and operates in close conjunction with the London office of RSA Films, one of the world's largest and most successful commercial production houses, as well as its sister company Scott Free Productions in Los Angeles, California.

About Hardy, Son & Baker

Tom Hardy formed Hardy Son & Baker with partner Dean Baker in 2012 with the goal to create and produce sophisticated, high quality film and TV content. HSB has a very active film and TV development slate, working with New Line Cinema on 100 Bullets, NBC Universal International Studios on several event TV series and collaborating with Working Title Films on a feature project. Taboo was originated by Hardy and is HSB's first TV drama production.

About Sonar Entertainment

Sonar Entertainment is a multi-faceted independent entertainment company designed to meet today's ever-changing landscape in global television production and distribution. With headquarters in Los Angeles and offices around the world, Sonar is uniquely positioned to participate in a wide range of ways in order to create television series, miniseries and movies. The company develops, produces, acquires, deficit finances, packages and distributes product both internationally and domestically. While primarily focused on the development and production of new product, Sonar is also the distributor of over 1,000 library titles comprised of award-winning programs from RHI Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment and Hal Roach Studios, among others.

About FX

FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable channel of FX Networks, a business unit of 21st Century Fox. FX Networks is comprised of FX, FXM and FXX. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in 93 million homes. The diverse schedule features a growing roster of critically-acclaimed and award-winning hit dramas series, including The Americans, The Strain, Tyrant and the upcoming Taboo; the critically-acclaimed limited series American Horror Story, Fargo and the upcoming American Crime Story; acclaimed hit comedy series including the award-winning Louie, Archer, Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll and the upcoming Baskets, Better Things and Atlanta. FX is the former home of the critically acclaimed and award-winning hit drama series The Shield, Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me, Damages, Sons of Anarchy and Justified. The network's library of acquired box-office hit movies is unmatched by any ad-supported television network. FX's roster of acquired hit series includes Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother and Mike & Molly.