Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s major new BBC One series Taboo has started filming in London this week.

Starring Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road) in the lead role, the eight-part drama is directed by Kristoffer Nyholm (The Killing).

Taboo sees Hardy play 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, while playing a dangerous game between two warring nations – Britain and America.

Michael Kelly (House of Cards) will play American doctor Dumbarton, with Jonathan Pryce (Brazil) as Sir Stuart Strange, the head of the East India Company and Delaney’s nemesis, Oona Chaplin (The Hour) as Zilpha Geary James’s half-sister, and David Hayman (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) as Brace, Delaney’s trusted man-servant.

The cast also includes Jessie Buckley (Shades of Love), Ashley Walters (Cuffs), Jefferson Hall (Vikings), Ed Hogg (Anonymous), Leo Bill (Alice in Wonderland), Christopher Fairbank (Guardians of the Galaxy), Richard Dixon (Mr Turner), Jason Watkins (Being Human) and Nicholas Woodeson (Rome).

Polly Hill, Controller BBC Drama commissioning commented: “The talent on- and off-screen is incredible and I am so excited to see Steve’s captivating scripts come to life. Tom Hardy and the rest of the cast are set to bring this original and spectacular story to life in a unique and epic way.”

Based on an original story by Tom Hardy and his father, Chips Hardy, Taboo is produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free London and Tom Hardy’s Hardy Son & Baker for BBC One and FX.

Season 3 of Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders is expected to air in early 2016 on BBC Two.

Are you looking forward to Taboo? Let us know below…