The Day of the Jackal Series 1 Review By Ryan Balkwill

Plot: A lone assassin, the Jackal, who is pursued by a British intelligence officer in a cat-and-mouse chase across Europe,

I was looking forward to this series.

Series 1 of The Day of The Jackal was Great.

Pros: I enjoyed seeing the Jackal in this series playing cat and mouse game with MI6 throughout. Eddie Redmayne was excellent playing an assassin. Lashana Lynch was Very Good as Bianca Pullman. It succeeded keeping you glue to the screens with every new episode. I like they get more into the alexander’s personal life frequently over the course of the series and the overall feel for the series does remind me of James Bond.   

Cons: I lost interest with the Nuria’s brother was doing. The pacing do tent to drag on and the final complication and the lead up did felt underwhelming in my opinion.  

Genre: CrimeDramaAction

Created by Ronan Bennett

Based on The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, Úrsula Corberó, Chukwudi Iwuji, Khalid Abdalla, Lia Williams, Eleanor Matsuura, Sule Rimi, Ben Hall, Jonjo O’Neill, Charles Dance & Nick Blood.

Composer: Volker Bertelmann

Executive producers: Gareth Neame, Nigel Marchant, Eddie Redmayne, Brian Kirk, Ronan Bennett

Producer: Christopher Hall

Production companies: Sky Studios, Universal Television, Carnival Film and Television

Network: Sky Atlantic (United Kingdom), Peacock (United States)

Casts & Characters:

Main:

  • Eddie Redmayne as Alexander Duggan / The Jackal, an internationally renowned assassin who utilises a variety of disguises and aliases
  • Lashana Lynch as Bianca Pullman, an MI6 agent, firearms expert, and former police officer in Section 303 who begins investigating the Jackal
  • Úrsula Corberó as Nuria, the Jackal’s Spanish wife who knows him as Charles Calthrop
  • Chukwudi Iwuji as Osita Halcrow, a senior MI6 official in Section 303 and Bianca’s direct boss
  • Khalid Abdalla as Ulle Dag Charles, a PalestinianEstonian billionaire tech entrepreneur and activist who becomes the Jackal’s target
  • Lia Williams as Isabel Kirby, the MI6 Deputy Chief of Staff, Pullman and Halcrow’s superior in Section 303
  • 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:

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

I highly recommend watching this series on Now TV.

Rating: 9 out of 10 Stars

Ryan Balkwill:

Resident film reviewer,

Level Best Art Cafe

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