Introduction

The Day of the Jackal is a British spy thriller television series, based on the Frederick Forsyth novel 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.

Outline

The Jackal, a highly effective assassin, stages a false flag attack to wound Elias Fest, the son of far right German politician Manfred Fest. This draws the senior Fest into a hospital visit where the Jackal assassinates him with a record distance sniper rifle shot. Reviewing the footage of the Jackal leaving the scene, MI6 firearms expert Bianca Pullman realises he used a sniper rifle with a collapsable barrel. She theorises that the weapon was made by Northern Irish gunsmith Norman Stoke. Meanwhile, an anonymous source offers the Jackal $10 million for a job. At an in-person meeting with the contact, Zina Jansone, he learns that the target is billionaire Ulle Dag Charles, who is about to release a disruptive technology known as River. The Jackal demands $100 million to kill such a high-profile and well-protected target. After returning home to his wife Nuria, the person who commissioned the Jackal to assassinate Fest refuses to pay him. Meanwhile, Bianca attempts to force her Belfast contact, Alison, to find Stoke. When she is unsuccessful, Bianca has Alison’s activist daughter, Emma, arrested. However, the plan backfires when Emma goes into cardiac arrest in custody.

The Day of the Jackal Series

You can find an overview and episode guide for The Day of the Jackal here.

Remakes

• The Day of the Jackal (1973): A political thriller film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Edward Fox and Michael Lonsdale.
  • Based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth, the film is about a professional assassin known only as the “Jackal” who is hired to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle in the summer of 1963.
• August 1 (1988): An Indian Malayalam-language film directed by Sibi Malayil, written by S.N. Swamy, and starring Mammootty, Sukumaran, Captain Raju and Urvashi.
  • This adaptation relocates the story to the Indian state of Kerala.
• The Jackal (1997): An American film directed by Michael Caton-Jones, written by Chuck Pfarrer, and starring Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier and Diane Venora.
  • Forsyth, Woolf, Zinnemann and Fox opposed the production and filed an injunction to prevent Universal Pictures from using the name of the original novel and film, and it would be marketed as being “inspired by” rather than directly based on Forsyth’s novel.
  • The film does not credit Forsyth’s novel as source material, and only credits Kenneth Ross with “earlier screenplay.”

Production & Filming Details

• Release Date: 07 November 2024.
• Running Time: 46-61 minutes (per episode).
• Rating: TV-MA.
• Country: UK.
• Language: English.

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