Taboo Season 2: Everything We Know
5. The Historical Setting Reveals Potential Plot Beats
If you know a little bit about 19th century British history, season two could take a step onto a much larger stage. By 1814, Britain was engaged in war on two fronts; Napoleon to the East and the War Of 1812 with America to the West. Stephen Knight talks of this period as the inspiration in a BBC radio interview:
"It's a neglected period but also pivotal - Britain was at war with the United States... and France, the Crown was at war with the East India Company and it was like there was this explosion going on in this city that was the capital of the world and I just wanted to take a character and throw that character into that explosion and see what happened."
By 1814, the British had disrupted all trade between America and Europe with a blockade of ships stationed in the Chesapeake Bay area, while secretly in talks with the Americans to draw up a peace treaty, including the ownership of Vancouver, gateway to trade with China. With Delaney sailing towards The Azores with a shipload of gunpowder, he can either trade or use it to blow a hole in the blockade.
Expect season two to steer heavily into the remarkable events of the world stage in 1814. Stephen Knight goes on to say when speaking with Deadline:
“I 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.”