Taboo: Who is Robert and can Thorne live much longer?

Taboo: Is Delaney in love with his sister? Four key questions from the 'new Peaky Blinders'

9 January

With hints of incest, a murder and a mysterious 'brother', Tom Hardy's new period drama looks set to justify its name

Tom Hardy's Taboo was met with mixed reviews yesterday, as critics applauded the first episode's ambition, but found some aspects of the period drama overblown.

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The show has a significant pedigree, from producer Ridley Scott to an all-star cast including Richard Dixon, Oona Chaplin, Jonathan Pryce, Thorne Geary, Franka Potente and Hardy himself.

However, the biggest draw of all – unusually – might just be its scriptwriter, Stephen Knight. Fresh from his success with Peaky Blinders, "the 57-year-old… has built a reputation as the man to go to for a risky period piece," The Guardian says.

Taboo began on Saturday night. Here are five big questions from its first episode.

Is James Delany in love with his sister?

Early in the episode, brooding trader James Delaney (Hardy) encounters his half-sister Zilpha (Chaplin) at his father's funeral. "One thing Africa did not cure was that I still love you," he whispers to her.

Is the implication that the siblings had a romantic relationship in the past?

"Considering all the Game of Thrones actors in the cast (including Chaplin herself) perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised to see a bit of incest making the rounds," says Radio Times. "However, Zilpha goes on to point out that James is only her half-sibling, raising all sorts of other questions."

Is Nootka Sound a real place?

James's confrontation with the powerful East India Company (read our briefing on the powerful organisation here), emerges after he inherits a small chunk of valuable land on Vancouver Island called Nootka Sound. But is it a real location?

Yes, it is - and it was fought over, but not in the way the series suggests.

Taboo places the clash over Nootka Sound in 1814, but it was actually a flashpoint in 1790. The Nootka Crisis was a dispute between the Spanish and the British over access to the key navigational and trading channel.

Spain blockaded the area, forcing other nations' traders away and in some cases holding their crews hostage. After years of tense wrangling, the dispute was resolved diplomatically, with Britain gaining access to Asian-Pacific trade, over which Spain had held a monopoly for more than 200 years.

What is the story with James's young brother?

As well as a sister, there is a mysterious third sibling much younger than James and Zilpha. James pays a handsome sum to maintain the boy, but could it be that there is an untold story here?

"There is, of course, the possibility… that the 'brother' is really a son, the product of James and Zilpha's much hinted at union who has been hidden away to avoid scandal," says The Guardian.

Who poisoned Delaney Sr?

James's father obviously had a lot of enemies and was also in possession of a very valuable tract of land. His autopsy revealed he died of arsenic poisoning and Delaney appears to suspect the murder was carried out by the shadowy East India Company. However, some critics suggest the culprit could be closer to home – possibly even Zilpha.

More will be revealed when the series continues on BBC1 next Saturday night.

Is Tom Hardy's Taboo the new Peaky Blinders?

6 January

BBC1's new historical drama series Taboo pits Tom Hardy against the East India Company. But while it may be set in the 19th century, don't expect some fluffy costume piece.

Hardy stars as James Keziah Delaney, an adventurer who returns to England from the US with a pocketful of stolen diamonds and a desire to avenge his father's death.

The actor came up with the idea for the eight-part series with his father Chips and it has an equally impressive pedigree behind the cameras – Ridley Scott is the producer and it is written by Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders fame.

Hardy put in several "scene-stealing performances" as the "loveable Jewish hardman" Alfie Solomons in the Birmingham gangster series, The Daily Mirror says. Peaky Blinders fans may hope that the combination of Knight and Hardy is equally successful in the new BBC period drama.

While its central characters are fictional, Taboo draws on real historical events and focuses on the activities of East India Company, which Knight has described as "the biggest, baddest multinational corporation on earth".

Early reviews suggest viewers are certainly in for something different from the standard period drama fare, with an epic tale involving Gothic horror, incest, cannibalism and supernatural touches.

Allison Keene on Collider calls Taboo "a strange and slow-burning journey of revenge" and despite the grand international tapestry, it is a very intimate story, with "a sly humour to it that saves it from being too serious".

Wills and legal wrangling feature, but the show is no dour legal drama, she adds: "There's grave robbing, arsenic poisoning, spycraft, incest, cannibalism, and ghosts."

Hardy gets a special mention for a performance of "quiet power with a tinge of madness".

This is a polished BBC production, concludes Keene, "with a pace that may be a little slow to start for some, but where an investment seems wise".

Tim Goodman in the Hollywood Reporter says there's definitely enough intrigue in this "dark, brooding" tale even if the show isn't particularly action-oriented or sexy, "save for Hardy's tattoo-laced body seen in various states of undress".

However, he adds, you should be a Hardy fan before committing to viewing as the "camera almost never strays from him", although he is one of the few actors "who can grunt and be entertaining doing so".

Tim Martin in the Daily Telegraph says Taboo aims to be a period drama with a difference, with an international cast, including Oona Chaplin and Franka Potente, and Scandi-noir directors to add "a Gothic chill".

But towering above it all is Hardy's Delaney - "a stovepipe-hatted hardcase covered in tattoos, given to wild hallucinations and accompanied everywhere by a flesh-eating lurcher".

Martin says it's hard to tell whether the series will be both extraordinary and meaningful from the first episode, despite all the Gothic horror and "supernatural flummery" but "time will tell".

Taboo starts on BBC1 at 9.15pm on Saturday 7 January.