Episode 1

Episode 1
Series {{{series}}}, Episode 1
Air date	Jan 7, 2017 (BBC One) Jan 10, 2017 (FX)
Written by	Steven Knight
Directed by	Kristoffer Nyholm
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Episode 1 is the first of eight episodes of the first season of Taboo. The season premiere originally aired on January 7^th, 2017 on BBC One, and January 10^th, 2017 on FX.

Synopsis

It is 1814 and James Delaney reappears in London, a changed and haunted man, presumed dead in Africa many years before. His return finds his father, Horace Delaney, dead and a country at war with France and the United States. Set to inherit what is left of his father's shipping empire, James's arrival not only threatens to disrupt the plans of his half-sister Zilpha and her husband Thorne, but also the political ambitions of the mighty East India Company, chaired by Sir Stuart Strange.

Cast

Main Cast Tom Hardy as James Keziah Delaney Oona Chaplin as Zilpha Geary Jefferson Hall as Thorne Geary David Hayman as Brace Jonathan Pryce as Sir Stuart Strange Recurring Cast Nicholas Woodeson as Robert Thoyt Leo Bill as Benjamin Wilton Richard Dixon as John Pettifer Edward Hogg as Michael Godfrey Franka Potente as Helga von Hinten Ruby-May Martinwood as Winter Christopher Fairbank as Ibbotson Louis Serkis as Robert Edward Fox as Horace Delaney

Guest Cast Tallulah Rose Haddon as Pearl Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Abraham Appleby Martin Wimbush as Funeral Caller Larrington Walker as Street Beggar Richard Syms as Priest Peter Yapp as Old Man Jo Cameron Brown as Old Lady Paul Bigley as Delf Andrew Greenough as Mace Tim Plester as Passerby 1 James Greaves as Strange's Clerk Michael Shaeffer as Dr. Powell David Houston as Ship's Captain Anthony Kaye as African Man

Memorable Quotes

"The issue today is Old Man Delaney. May he rot in Hell!"

― Sir Strange's farewell to Horace Delaney

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"I remember you. I've heard the stories. If I give you a girl I'll never see her again!"

― Helga to James Delaney

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"Whatever happens with this business of inheritance, and no matter if it results in dispute, I hope I can trust you to keep the secrets of the past buried. Buried in a deeper grave."

― Zilpha Geary

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"I do know the evil that you do because I was once part of it."

― James Delaney to Sir Stuart Strange

Gallery

• Promotional Stills
• Screencaps

Videos

Helga and James in the brothel - Taboo Episode 1 Preview - BBC One

Notes

Trivia

• On various sites such as IMDb.com and the like, this episode was listed under the title "Shovels and Keys," but this title is not present in any officially released reports nor its origin is attested by any reliable source.
• Some of the filming for this new series took place at The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London.
• The scene at the water mill was shot at Mapledurham on the Thames, near Reading.
• As mentioned by Delaney, his mother's name was Salish, which is also the name of an indigenous tribe still living on Vancouver Island. The Coast Salish peoples.

Goofs

• The presence of the Prince Regent sets this precisely between 1811-1820. However the so-called 'mirror test' for arsenic was invented by James Marsh, refining Metzger's test, in 1832.
• St. Bartholomew's Hospital has no glass roof mortuary in 1814.