MarketThe Day of the Jackal (TV series)
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The Day of the Jackal (TV series)

The Day of the Jackal is a British spy thriller television series, based on the Frederick Forsyth novel and 1973 film of the same name. It stars Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. It is written and created by Ronan Bennett, produced by Christopher Hall and directed by Brian Kirk, Anthony Philipson, Paul Wilmshurst and Anu Menon. The first series began airing in November 2024. That same month, it was renewed for a second series.

Premise
Reimagined into a contemporary political setting, this series is based on a popular novel which centres on a ruthless British assassin, known only as "The Jackal", and the intelligence officer intent on capturing him. ==Cast and characters==
Cast and characters
MainEddie Redmayne as "The Jackal"/Alexander Duggan, an internationally renowned assassin. Duggan is a Sandhurst dropout and UKSF veteran. • Lashana Lynch as Bianca Pullman, a former police officer, firearms expert, and now an agent in Section 303 of MI6, who begins investigating the Jackal. • Úrsula Corberó as Nuria Gonzalez Martin, the Jackal's Spanish wife who knows him as "Charles Calthrop", mother of their child, Carlitos. • Chukwudi Iwuji as Osita Halcrow, a senior MI6 official in Section 303 and Bianca's direct boss. • Khalid Abdalla as Ulle Dag Charles, a billionaire tech entrepreneur and activist who becomes the Jackal's target. • Lia Williams as Isabel Kirby, the MI6 Deputy Chief of Staff, Bianca and Halcrow’s superior. • Eleanor Matsuura as Zina Jansone, an American liaison between the Jackal and her employer, Winthrop. • Sule Rimi as Paul Pullman, an academic lecturer and Bianca's estranged husband. • Ben Hall as Damian Richardson, an MI6 agent and colleague of Bianca's in Section 303. • Jonjo O'Neill as Edward Carver, a 'fixer' within MI6, investigating suspected leaks in Section 303. • Puchi Lagarde as Marisa, Nuria's interfering mother. • Jon Arias as Alvaro, Nuria's deadbeat brother whose scheming endangers the Jackal's family. • Charles Dance as Timothy Winthrop, a powerful financier and the Jackal's latest employer. • Nick Blood as Vincent Pyne, an MI6 protection agent, former police and NCA officer and old friend of Bianca's. • Patrick Kennedy as Teddy, Ulle's partner. • Andreas Jessen as Rasmus, a worker at the Kontserdisaal in Tallinn Special guest starRichard Dormer as Norman Stoke (series 1), the Jackal's gunsmith and a former "blackneck" in the Ulster Volunteer Force. Recurring • Florisa Kamara as Jasmine Pullman, Bianca and Paul's daughter. • Kate Dickie as Alison Stoke, Larry's wife and Bianca's covert source in Northern Ireland. • Patrick O'Kane as Larry Stoke, Norman's brother and a criminal associated with loyalist paramilitaries. • Corey Johnson as Doug Wojack, a fellow conspirator of Winthrop's. • Christy Meyer as Leonora Boggs, a fellow conspirator of Winthrop's. • Adam James as Jeremy Whitelock, the Foreign Secretary. • Gerard Kearns as Gary Cobb, a British Army special forces soldier who served as The Jackal's spotter. ==Episodes==
Production
The project for Carnival Films with Sky and Peacock was announced in November 2022. The screenwriter Ronan Bennett was set as writer and showrunner, with Brian Kirk as the lead director, followed by Anthony Philipson, Paul Wilmshurst and Anu Menon. Charles Cumming, Jessica Sinyard and Shyam Popat joined the writer's room in July 2022. Christopher Hall produced all episodes, while Forsyth served as consulting producer. Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, Ronan Bennett, Gareth Neame, Nigel Marchant and Marianne Buckland are executive producers. The series is a reimagining of the source text in a modern setting, with Redmayne describing it as "a completely different piece" that has "been reconceived and contemporised with a new target". The series also gives more of an insight into the Jackal as a protagonist and Redmayne said he chose the project because "the idea of getting to spend a proper amount of time with this enigma felt like great material to mine". On 22 November 2024, The Day of the Jackal was renewed for a second season. Casting Redmayne was revealed to be in the cast in March 2023. In June 2023, Lashana Lynch joined the cast. Additional casting including Úrsula Corberó, Charles Dance, Richard Dormer and Chukwudi Iwuji was announced in February 2024. In February 2026, Weruche Opia and Pablo Schreiber were cast as regulars for the second season. Filming Filming for the series, taking place in four countries and expected to last seven months, was started in June 2023. The shoot began in Budapest, Hungary and its neighbouring regions. Filming took place in Vienna in July 2023. Filming took place in the autumn of 2023 in Croatia. Croatian locations include Rijeka, Pag, Opatija, and the central Istrian region. The external shots of The Jackal's property were filmed in Rabac, Croatia. Production of the second season began in February 2026. ==Broadcast==
Broadcast
The ten-episode series premiered on 7 November 2024, airing in the United Kingdom on Sky Atlantic and Now, and streaming on Peacock in the United States. NBCUniversal Global Distribution distributes the series internationally outside of Sky's markets, airing through its agreements with Foxtel (Australia), Showcase (Canada), JioCinema (India), Showmax (Africa), TVNZ+ (New Zealand), Disney+ (Latin America) and SkyShowtime (Europe) among others. Subsequent episodes were released weekly, concluding on 12 December. NBC broadcast the pilot on US television on 30 December 2024. ==Reception==
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Day of the Jackal has an approval rating of 85% with an average rating of 7.6/10, based on 52 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "A globetrotting thriller made eerily plausible by Eddie Redmayne's reptilian performance, The Day of the Jackal turns dark deeds into good fun." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three and a half out of four stars, saying, "From Eddie Redmayne as the titular character to the gorgeous and expansive location shoots in London, Budapest, Vienna and Croatia to the major action set pieces ... Clichéd as it might be to say this, each of the 10 chapters is more like a movie than an episode of television. [...] This is one big small-screen thriller." Writing for The Guardian, Rebecca Nicholson gave it four out of five stars, calling it "a taut, lean drama that makes the most out of its acting talent and lays the foundations for a whole lot of well‑executed action. Watching the Jackal carry out his assignments and get away with his audacious plans – despite terrible odds to the contrary – is genuinely exciting. Even though you know he is probably not going to get caught, every checkpoint has you holding your breath, just in case he messes up." David Fear of Rolling Stone praised the two leads, but felt the show's runtime was bloated, writing that Redmayne is "one of the best things about this updated Jackal, especially when the series slows down to procedural speed and simply observes the professional killer researching his jobs, scouting locations, shooting target practice. It also benefits from giving him a worthy adversary in the form of Lashana Lynch, who’s a master thief when it comes to stealing scenes. [...] Had The Day of the Jackal kept its eyes on the prize that is the predator/prey/pursuer plotline, it could have been prestige-pulp gold. Instead, it gilds the lily with unnecessary backstory and peripheral melodrama allegedly designed to “flesh out” characters, and you’re left with an epic amount of gorgeous, globetrotting Mid TV." ==Accolades==
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