The Day of the Jackal Season 1 Review: Eddie Redmayne Shines in Gripping Peacock Series

The Day of the Jackal is easily Peacock’s most gripping original series this year. This new adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s classic novel is the first in a television format and delivers a compelling experience. Surprisingly, there have only been two prior attempts to adapt the 1972 Best Novel Edgar Award winner for the screen. And dare I say, this version of The Day of the Jackal rivals the best of them.

Most notably in the critically acclaimed 1973 film by Fred Zinnemann. The Academy Award-winning director used a stoic, documentary-style approach to create an immersive and suspenseful story. The other is Bruce Willis’s take, The Jackal (1997), which I would call monotonous if it weren’t so laughable.

However, this version takes a different approach. The vehicle, designed for star Eddie Redmayne, leans toward mainstream entertainment but remains consistently interesting, suspenseful, and intriguing. Notably, Redmayne fully inhabits a role that is notoriously difficult to pull off. The duality of charm and coldness is a mix that the Academy Award winner handles exceptionally well, making Redmayne captivating in the role.

Additionally, the script by showrunner and creator Ronan Bennett (Public Enemies, Top Boy) smartly humanizes a character who is far from redeemable. This is achieved by giving Charles, aka “The Jackal,” a hidden personal life—a wife and child on the Spanish coast. Úrsula Corberó is excellent as Nuria, the Jackal’s wife, who begins to suspect that her husband is not a businessman when she catches a glimpse of him in a taxi rather than on the plane she believed he boarded after she dropped him off at the airport.

Nuria doesn’t know Charles funds their lavish lifestyle as a highly paid assassin. Charles has just completed a job assassinating a far-right German political official. On his trail is MI6 agent and firearms expert Bianca Pullman (an excellent Lashana Lynch of Bob Marley: One Love), who works closely with German authorities. Bianca is a kick-ass agent, ruthless in her methods—she even sets up a mole to betray her husband by arresting their daughter, a plan that quickly goes bad. You’ll believe every moment of Lynch’s performance.

Known for her standout roles in No Time to Die, Captain Marvel, and The Woman King, she portrays a modern-day spy with depth and flaws. That includes an obsessive streak that gives her character a rare three-dimensional quality. Bianca evokes an almost Popeye Doyle-like intensity from The French Connection. She’s unrelenting, driven, and morally complex. This duality in both her and Charles makes their dynamic fascinating. This makes them more layered and less enigmatic than the characters from the classic source material.

That’s not all that makes The Day of the Jackal worth watching. For lack of a better term, the spycraft is incredibly cool. I dare anyone not to marvel at the ingenious ways Charles, especially in the first two episodes, manages to smuggle a highly advanced sniper rifle into some of the most secure locations. The series brilliantly offers shades of gray, subtly encouraging the viewer to root for the “bad guy” as he works to complete his mission.

Overall, The Day of the Jackal is a thoroughly gripping, highly suspenseful, and exciting spy series featuring two outstanding performances from Redmayne and Lynch. While the series feels slightly stretched by one or two episodes, it’s a must-watch for fans of the genre.