TV Shows Like Taboo
If you like Taboo, here are 9 similar TV shows — each with its current AI renewal verdict, so you can see which are still going and which have been cancelled.
BBC One · Drama · Taboo is ended
Taboo draws its power from two opposing forces working against James Keziah Delaney at once: the vast machinery of the British Empire, which wants him crushed, and his own dark appetites, which threaten to consume him regardless. The show works because it takes its protagonist seriously as a threat. Delaney does not stumble into danger or inherit heroism. He calculates, manipulates, blackmails and kills his way toward vengeance with a murky morality that makes him neither hero nor villain but something more dangerous: a man willing to burn the world to get what he wants. The period setting grounds this in history, but the show's appeal is rooted in character, in watching someone competent and ruthless navigate impossible odds through wit and brutality.
The best shows like Taboo
1. Peaky Blinders
Tommy Shelby has the same ruthless intelligence and willingness to operate outside the law as Delaney, building his power through corruption and careful manipulation. Like Taboo, it shows how a charismatic, morally compromised leader gathers loyal men around him and wages war against larger systems, with each season building conspiracy and betrayal on top of what came before.
Stream on Netflix
Ended0%
2. Black Sails
This show shares Taboo's fascination with survival in hostile systems, where entire societies exist in the margins and must fight against extinction. Captain Flint and John Silver navigate a world where violence and cunning are currency, and personal ambition constantly threatens to shatter fragile alliances, much like Delaney's relationships with the people he uses.
Stream on Starz Apple TV Channel, Starz Roku Premium Channel, YouTube TV, Starz
Ended0%
3. MobLand
Two warring crime families tearing each other apart mirrors the collision of empires and individuals in Taboo, with similar themes of betrayal, murder, and the corruption of power. The show treats its criminal world as a complete ecosystem where violence is business and family loyalty is as dangerous as ambition.
Stream on fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel
Renewed100%
4. Killing Eve
Where Taboo hinges on Delaney's dark obsessions and psychological complexity, Killing Eve makes obsession the entire relationship between hunter and hunted. Both shows center on characters who are smarter and more dangerous than the systems trying to contain them, operating with a kind of amused contempt for authority.
Stream on Netflix, fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Ended0%
5. Strike
A former soldier with psychological scars using his intelligence to solve crimes in a corrupt London channels Delaney's method of operating outside official channels to uncover truth. Strike shares Taboo's interest in how individual competence and ruthlessness can cut through institutional lies and expose what others want hidden.
Stream on HBO Max Amazon Channel, YouTube TV, HBO Max
On the Bubble42%
More on shows like Taboo
Fans of Taboo tend to seek out shows with similarly complex protagonists operating in corrupt systems where the line between law and crime blurs completely. They want period drama with teeth, not drawing room intrigue but real stakes and real violence. They're drawn to slow-building tension and conspiracy, to mysteries that unfold across seasons. They appreciate moral ambiguity, worlds where no one is clean and survival depends on being willing to do what others will not. The settings might vary, but the DNA should be the same: a world where corruption runs so deep it has become the natural order.
The recommendations here offer variations on that template. Peaky Blinders and Black Sails both feature protagonists who claw their way up through systems rigged against them, using cunning and violence in equal measure. MobLand operates in similar moral terrain, showing how families and empires crack under the weight of greed and betrayal. Killing Eve takes the obsessive cat-and-mouse dynamic and makes it psychological, centering on two people who understand each other too well. Strike grounds investigation and dark secrets in a more grounded setting, but maintains that core appeal of a smart protagonist unraveling conspiracy in a corrupt city.
More shows like Taboo
Frequently asked
- What is the most popular show like Taboo?
- Peaky Blinders is the most popular show similar to Taboo in the IsItRenewed catalogue.
- Are shows like Taboo still on the air?
- Of the 9 shows similar to Taboo listed here, 1 currently carry a renewed verdict — the rest are cancelled, ended, or awaiting a decision.
- How does IsItRenewed pick shows like Taboo?
- The recommendations come from TMDB's similar-titles data, and each is shown with its current AI renewal verdict so you know which are still going.