Tom Hardy's 'Taboo' renewed for a second season at FX, BBC

March 8 (UPI) -- BBC One and FX have ordered a second season of their Tom Hardy-led drama Taboo.

Set in early, 19th-century England, the show was created by Steven Knight with Tom and Chips Hardy. In it, Tom Hardy plays James Keziah Delaney, "a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father's shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself," a synopsis noted.

"I'm thrilled that a work which pushes boundaries has been so well received and found such a large and enthusiastic audience in the United States 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," Knight said in a statement Wednesday. "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."

Piers Wenger, controller for BBC Drama, added: "Taboo is the perfect storm of on-screen and behind-the-camera talent, and there was never any doubting the capacity of Tom and Steve to create an unmissable cinematic drama event for Saturday nights. It's been a thrill to see the audience for Taboo build over time and in such large numbers. In Series 2, Tom and Steve and the show's brilliant producers are promising something daring, different but equally unmissable, and I'm delighted that the BBC is partnering with FX once again to roll Taboo out to audiences across the world."

"We are grateful and excited to continue our relationship with the BBC and FX in contributing towards British drama. Fantastic news," Hardy remarked.