Taboo, episode 2 preview: Stephen Graham, Scroobius Pip, and Rob Parker join Tom Hardy's gang

Five million of us tuned into last Saturday's debut of the period drama Taboo on BBC One, with Tom Hardy as a haunted adventurer named James Delaney, who suddenly reappears in London in the wake of his father's demise - surprising locals who have long believed him to be dead as well.

The first episode left a few threads dangling, including the truth about James' mysterious exodus to Africa, the dynamics of his relationship with sister Zilpha, the strange appearance of an apparent third sibling, a boy much younger than James or Zilpha, and much, much more. But while we ponder, here are some means to distract yourself in advance of this Saturday's episode.

Stephen Graham and Tom Hardy have an uncomfortable meeting in this weekend's Taboo CREDIT: ROBERT VIGLASKY/BBC

Episode two sees James attending the reading of his father's will, along with the introduction of Stephen Graham's Atticus, a yellow-toothed lowlife with a map tattooed on his head who moonlights as something of a 19th century contract killer. In the above clip, James addresses Atticus' history with his father.

Mark Gatiss will also make his Taboo debut this week, playing the notorious Prince Regent (later known better as George VI). Gatiss had to be buried under facial prosthetics for the part.

Also worth a listen before episode two rolls around is this week's Distraction Pieces podcast, which sees host Scroobius Pip, a spoken word poet and actor, converse with former rugby league player Rob Parker about their experiences working on Taboo. Both men play members of Atticus's gang of smugglers, though Pip has revealed that he was gradually given more to do as the series went on.

Tom Hardy, with shovel in hand, in this weekend's Taboo CREDIT: ROBERT VIGLASKY/BBC

Fans expecting any show gossip will be disappointed, but it's an interesting peek into the collaborative mood on set, as well as Parker's experiences as a working-class Northerner moving into the world of acting.

He speaks highly of Hardy, but leaves most of his praise for costar Stephen Graham, whom he bonded with over their similar backgrounds and who took Parker under his wing just as he arrived on set.

Stephen Graham in Taboo CREDIT: BBC

Parker also talks about his experiences being something of a glorified extra on the show, and shared anecdotes of other extras putting a bit too much thought into their character.

"I remember one of the lads," Parker recalled. "He came over to the director and said, 'I've been thinking about this, and I don't think my character would be doing this here.' And it's like, mate, you're just plucking a chicken in the background. I'm pretty sure no one's arsed."

How does he fold into things? Mark Gatiss as Prince Regent on the show CREDIT: ROBERT VIGLASKY/BBC

The heavily-tattooed Pip also recounts moments of having fun on set, particularly when he had even more tattoos added to his body for the show.

"The amusing thing was that the ones that they added to me matched a lot of the ones that I've already got," he remembered.

"There was one day where one of the make-up girls was taking off my tattoos at the end of the day, and I left it a good minute or two before I told her that the ones she was trying to take off were mine. She was scrubbing for ages trying to get these tattoos off my hand."

Taboo continues on Saturdays at 9.15pm BBC One