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

Bianca covers up Emma’s death to force Alison to find Stoke. Under his alias, the Jackal spends time at his home in Spain with Nuria and their son, Carlito. However, he is forced to leave early when he receives a lead on the source of the withheld payment for the Fest assassination. After dropping the Jackal at the airport, Nuria spies him by chance after he briefly returns to their town to visit his bank, leading her to assume that he is having an affair. In Munich, he meets with Zina again, who confirms that her employer, Timothy Winthrop, has agreed to the Jackal’s terms. However, the assassination must be completed within the month before Ulle can launch River; the Jackal agrees. He later discovers that Elias was the one who hired him and is refusing to pay him after being shot. Meanwhile, pursuing her investigation of the assassin, Bianca theorises that he is British and former British Army. Alison obtains Stoke’s phone number, and Bianca is deployed to Belarus to arrest him. The operation goes awry, however, and Stoke kills two of Bianca’s colleagues before escaping, leading her to believe that he was tipped off.

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.

Video Link(s)