10 Most Disappointing TV Shows Of 2017
3. Taboo
Tom Hardy starring in his own TV show, created by the actor and his Locke director Steven Knight? That alone was enough of a hook for Taboo, and the premise - Hardy's James Delaney returns home to England after 13-years in Africa, along with 14 stolen diamonds - promised strong material for its lead.
Add in a great supporting cast, including Oona Chaplin, Mark Gatiss, Jonathan Pryce, and Stephen Graham, and things looked good for Taboo. And then it aired.
The show wasn't the great star vehicle it had once seemed, with Hardy and co mumbling through some wince-inducing dialogue and a glacially slow plot, which dredges across its East India Company story mired in darkness with little to drive it forwards. Hardy brings his usual intensity, but it's not enough to elevate things.