The Day of the Jackal TV Series Overview (2024)

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

Reimagined into a contemporary political setting, this series is based on a classic novel which centres on a ruthless British assassin, known only as “the Jackal”, and the intelligence officer intent on capturing him.

Cast

Main:
- Eddie Redmayne as “The Jackal”, an internationally renowned assassin who utilises a variety of disguises and aliases.
- 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, the Jackal’s Spanish wife who knows him as “Charles Calthrop”, mother of their child, Carlito.
- 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, a liaison between the Jackal and her employer, Winthrop.
- Sule Rimi as Paul Pullman, an academic lecturer and Bianca’s 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.
- 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.

Special guest stars:
- Richard Dormer as Norman Stoke, the Jackal’s gunsmith and a former “blackneck” in the Ulster Volunteer Force.
- Adam James as Jeremy Whitelock, the Foreign Secretary
- Gerard Kearns as Gary Cobb, a British Army special forces soldier (Pathfinder) who served as The Jackal’s spotter

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.
- Puchi Lagarde as Marisa, Nuria’s mother
- Jon Arias as Alvaro, Nuria’s brother.
- Patrick O’Kane as Larry Stoke, Norman’s brother and a criminal associated with loyalist paramilitaries.
- Christy Meyer as Leonora Boggs, a fellow conspirator of Winthrop’s.

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. 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 with the story given 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 programme was renewed for a second series.

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.

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.

Release

The ten-episode series premiered on 07 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 even though they have no intention of showing the rest of the series, for free, on the network.

The Day of the Jackal Series

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.”

Trivia

Ulle Dag Charles is almost an anagram of Charles De Gaulle – the target in the original novel – and is known by the initials UDC in the same way De Gaulle is often referred to as CDG.
The Jackal is seen driving a white Alfa Romeo Spider.
In The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Jackal also drives a white Alfa Romeo, albeit an earlier model.
Numerous Easter eggs throughout the series refer to the preceding 1971 Frederick Forsyth novel and the Fred Zinnemann film The Day of the Jackal (1973); otherwise the series follows the the novel and the earlier film only very loosely.
- Notably, in the novel and the 1973 film, very little is divulged about the Jackal’s background or personal life, and the primary team hunting him is French rather than British.

Production & Filming Details

Director(s):
- Brian Kirk … (3 episodes, 2024)
- Paul Wilmshurst … (3 episodes, 2024)
- Anu Menon … (2 episodes, 2024)
- Anthony Philipson … (2 episodes, 2024)
Producer(s):
- Ronan Bennett … executive producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Rosie Blair … story producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Marianne Buckland … co-executive producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Charles Cumming … associate producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Howard Ellis … hungarian producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Adam Goodman … hungarian producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Christopher Hall … producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Sam Hoyle … executive producer for sky / executive producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Lashana Lynch … co-executive producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Nigel Marchant … executive producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Erika Milutin … croatia producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Sue Naegle … executive producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Gareth Neame … executive producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Shyam Popat … associate producer / co-producer / assistant producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Eddie Redmayne … executive producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Emily Shapland … co-producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Jessica Sinyard … associate producer (10 episodes, 2024)
- Gergö Balika … hungarian producer (9 episodes, 2024)
- Frederick Forsyth … consulting producer (9 episodes, 2024)
- C. Cory M. McCrum-Abdo … co-producer (9 episodes, 2024)
- Karolina Slemer … line producer (8 episodes, 2024)
- Claire Davis-Bell … co-producer (7 episodes, 2024)
- Mario Diller … croatia unit: junior producer / crotia unit: junior producer (7 episodes, 2024)
- Robert Price … london unit: line producer / line producer: london unit (6 episodes, 2024)
- Adam Woodhall … story producer (5 episodes, 2024)
- Brian Kirk … executive producer (3 episodes, 2024)
- Sholla Coker … associate producer for sky (1 episode, 2024)
Writer(s):
- Ronan Bennett … (created for television by) (10 episodes, 2024)
- Ronan Bennett … (written for television by) (7 episodes, 2024)
- Charles Cumming … (written by) (1 episode, 2024)
- Frederick Forsyth … (based on the novel by) (10 episodes, 2024)
- Shyam Popat … (written by) (1 episode, 2024)
- Jessica Sinyard … (written by) (1 episode, 2024)
Music:
- Volker Bertelmann … (10 episodes, 2024)
Cinematography:
- Dale Elena McCready … (3 episodes, 2024)
- Christopher Ross … (3 episodes, 2024)
- Laurie Rose … (2 episodes, 2024)
- Ashley Rowe … (2 episodes, 2024)
Editor(s):
- Luke Dunkley … (2 episodes, 2024)
- Adam Green … (2 episodes, 2024)
- Adam Moss … (2 episodes, 2024)
- Ben Whitehead … (2 episodes, 2024)
- Sam Hodge … (1 episode, 2024)
- Elen Pierce Lewis … (1 episode, 2024)
Production:
- Carnival Film & Television
- Peacock Productions (in association with)
- SKY Studios (co-production)
Distributor(s):
- Amazon Prime Video (France, 2024)(VOD, video)
- Binge (Australia, 2024)(VOD, video)
- Disney+ (Argentina, 2024)(VOD, video)
- Peacock (United States, 2024)(VOD, video)
- Showcase Television (Canada, 2024)(TV)
- Sky Atlantic HD (Germany, 2024)(TV)
- Sky Atlantic (United Kingdom, 2024)(TV)
- SkyShowtime (Non-US, 2024)(VOD, most territories in Europe, excluding Germany, France, Italy and UK, video)
Release Date:
- Series 01: 07 November 2024 to 12 December 2024.
- Series 02: ?2025.
Running Time: 46-61 minutes (per episode).
Rating: TV-MA.
Country: UK.
Language: English.