
The Day of the Jackal TV Series: Cast, Season 2 and Streaming
Few thrillers get under your skin the way a patient manhunt does, and The Day of the Jackal TV series is built around exactly that. Sky (UK broadcaster’s listing) says the first season drew 3 million viewers in its first week in the UK, and this guide answers whether a second season is coming, where to watch it, and how the story ends.
Novel publication year: 1971 (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)) · Original film release year: 1973 (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)) · Series lead as the Jackal: Eddie Redmayne · Series co-lead as Bianca: Lashana Lynch
Quick snapshot
- Peacock announced the Season 2 renewal on 22 November 2024 (Peacock (official streaming service))
- Peacock premiered the series in the US on 14 November 2024 (Metacritic (review aggregator))
- Sky says the series is not on Netflix in the UK (Sky (UK broadcaster’s listing)) (Peacock (official streaming service))
- Season 2 has an expected window of spring 2027 but no exact premiere date (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage))
- Rotten Tomatoes approval for Season 1 is listed at 85% and 91% across sources (Screen Rant (film and TV news site))
- No official Season 2 trailer appears in the sources gathered for this guide (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage))
- Season 1’s final episode aired on 12 December 2024 (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage)) (Deadline (entertainment trade publication))
- Weruche Opia and Pablo Schreiber joined Season 2 as series regulars on 6 February 2026 (Deadline (entertainment trade publication))
- Matt Bomer joined the cast in May 2026, reportedly as a villain (Radio Times (TV listings magazine))
- Season 2 is expected to premiere in spring 2027, according to Sky’s Meghan Lyvers (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage)) (TV Insider (TV news site))
- Eddie Redmayne returns as the Jackal (TV Insider (TV news site))
Nine rows carry the rest of this guide, and one pattern runs through them: the UK and US launches came one week apart, while Season 2’s timing is the only date still tied to a window rather than a fixed day.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original novel | The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, published 1971 |
| Original film | The Day of the Jackal, released 1973, directed by Fred Zinnemann |
| UK premiere (Sky Atlantic) | (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)) |
| US premiere (Peacock) | (Metacritic (review aggregator)) |
| Season 1 finale | (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage)) |
| Season 2 status | Renewal announced (Peacock (official streaming service)) |
| Season 2 expected premiere | spring 2027 (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage)) |
| Season 1 Metacritic score | 72 out of 100 (28 critics) (Metacritic (review aggregator)) |
| Season 2 series regulars | Weruche Opia and Pablo Schreiber, announced (Deadline (entertainment trade publication)) |
Is there a season 2 of the series Day of the Jackal?
Yes, the renewal is on the record. Peacock announced that Season 2 was officially renewed on (Peacock (official streaming service)), so the open questions are timing and cast, not whether the story returns.
Are they making a new series of Day of the Jackal?
- Season 2 is expected to premiere in spring 2027, a window Sky’s Director of Original Drama for the UK and Ireland, Meghan Lyvers, gave at the 2026 Edinburgh TV Festival (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage)).
- Ronan Bennett will not write Season 2 but remains as executive producer, with David Harrower as primary writer, according to Variety as cited by TV Insider (TV Insider (TV news site)).
The catch: a renewal is not a premiere date. The season is in the edit, and no exact release date has been published in the sources gathered here.
Is there a trailer for season 2 of The Day of the Jackal?
- No official Season 2 trailer appears in the sources gathered for this guide, so none is cited here.
- Season 2 publicity so far runs through trade announcements and cast reports rather than footage.
Why this matters: without a trailer, the season’s pace rests on announcements, and any trailer claim should wait for an official Peacock or Sky post.
Who will be in Jackal season 2?
- Eddie Redmayne returns as the Jackal (TV Insider (TV news site)).
- Weruche Opia and Pablo Schreiber were announced as series regulars on (Deadline (entertainment trade publication)).
- Matt Bomer joined in May 2026, reportedly in a villainous role (Radio Times (TV listings magazine)).
- Pia Tjelta is reported to join in her first English-language role, and her character is not yet known (Screen Rant (film and TV news site)).
What this means: the new names are gathering around the Jackal, while the Season 1 team has no confirmed return in the sources gathered.
Peacock’s renewal settles that Season 2 is coming, but Sky’s Meghan Lyvers is the only named voice tying it to a window, spring 2027, so viewers should plan around that window rather than a release day.
Where can I watch season 2 of The Day of the Jackal?
Where you watch depends on where you live. Sky carries the series in the UK, and Peacock is the US streaming home, so the answer changes at the border (Sky (UK broadcaster’s listing)).
Is The Day of the Jackal available on Netflix?
- Sky’s listing says the series is exclusive to Sky in the UK and is not available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+ (Sky (UK broadcaster’s listing)).
- No source gathered for this guide confirms Netflix for Season 2 in any market.
- In the US, the series streams on Peacock with a Peacock Premium subscription required (Metacritic (review aggregator)).
The implication: UK viewers looking for a Netflix version will find none, and US viewers are weighing a paid Peacock Premium subscription.
Where can I watch The Day of the Jackal TV series in the UK?
- Sky Atlantic and NOW carry the series in the UK, and NOW users can stream episodes in step with Sky’s weekly schedule (T3 (streaming and entertainment coverage)).
- The platform details here come from Sky’s listing and T3’s coverage, and neither gives a dated territory check, so confirm on Sky before subscribing.
The trade-off: UK viewers get one clear home for the series, but they pay for it through Sky or NOW, and Season 2 still has no platform-confirmed date.
Is The Day of the Jackal TV series worth watching?
Reception leans positive, but the figures do not agree with each other. Screen Rant lists Season 1 Rotten Tomatoes approval at 91%, while other sources give 85%, so the score you see depends on which page you open.
Does the series lose momentum in the middle episodes?
- The sources gathered for this guide do not measure the middle episodes one by one, so pacing remains a question of reviewer opinion.
- Metacritic scores Season 1 at 72 out of 100 from 28 critics (Metacritic (review aggregator)).
- TV Guide reports that Season 1 received Golden Globe nominations in the 2025 cycle (TV Guide (US TV listings and news)).
Upsides
- Peacock reported that the series ranked #1 on its Top 10 TV Shows during its US debut weekend and was a top five streaming original (Peacock (official streaming service)).
- Elle UK reported the series became Sky Original’s most-watched show at the time, with 4.5 million viewers in its first 26 days (Elle UK (culture magazine)).
- Collider’s critic Jeff Ewing calls it a tense and well-crafted update of a spy thriller (Collider (film and TV criticism site)).
Downsides
- Season 2 has no exact premiere date yet, only a spring 2027 window (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage)).
- In the UK, the series is not on Netflix, so the cheapest route to a binge is not available (Sky (UK broadcaster’s listing)).
- In the US, Peacock Premium is required (Metacritic (review aggregator)).
The trade-off: the upside is a strong audience record and a clear critical verdict on tension, while the downside is that the verdict only pays off if you are willing to subscribe and wait for Season 2’s dated premiere.
Is The Day of the Jackal a true story?
No. The series is adapted from fiction, and the Jackal is a fictional assassin, so no real-event basis is claimed for him. The chain runs from Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel to a 1973 film, and then to the series that premiered in 2024 (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)).
What is the name of the original Jackal movie?
- The original film is titled The Day of the Jackal, released in 1973 and directed by Fred Zinnemann (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)).
- The series is based on Forsyth’s 1971 novel of the same name (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)).
- The novel is the shared root of both the 1973 film and the 2024 series.
What this means: the series inherits its title and plot from a 1971 novel rather than from a real manhunt, so the fact-check ends with a fiction label.
How does The Day of the Jackal end?
Spoiler warning: the section below reveals how Season 1 ends, so stop here if you have not finished the season.
What happens to Bianca in The Day of the Jackal?
- Season 1 ends with the Jackal killing MI6 agent Bianca Pullman, played by Lashana Lynch (TV Insider (TV news site)).
- Brian Kirk, lead director and executive producer, told Variety that the Jackal does not die in the finale (Elle UK (culture magazine)).
- The finale excerpt in the sources gathered is truncated, so this guide does not describe the full final sequence.
The catch: Bianca’s death closes her Season 1 arc, but the sources do not explain how she figures in Season 2, so no outcome beyond Season 1 is stated here.
Timeline signal
- : Sky Atlantic premieres the series in the UK (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia))
- : Peacock premieres the series in the US (Metacritic (review aggregator))
- : Peacock announces the Season 2 renewal (Peacock (official streaming service))
- : Season 1’s final episode airs (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage))
- : Opia and Schreiber join as series regulars (Deadline (entertainment trade publication))
- : Matt Bomer joins the cast, reportedly (Radio Times (TV listings magazine))
- spring 2027: expected Season 2 premiere window (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage))
The pattern: the renewal came in 2024, and nearly every later milestone is a casting or scheduling announcement rather than a release.
Peacock’s renewal came eight days after its US premiere, yet no exact Season 2 date has followed. Anyone budgeting for the next season is budgeting for a window, not a release day.
Confirmed facts and what’s unclear
Confirmed facts
- Season 2 was renewed, as announced by Peacock on 22 November 2024 (Peacock (official streaming service))
- Sky says the series is exclusive to Sky in the UK and not on Netflix (Sky (UK broadcaster’s listing))
- Peacock premiered the series in the US on 14 November 2024 (Metacritic (review aggregator))
- Season 1’s final episode aired on 12 December 2024 (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage))
What’s unclear
- The exact Season 2 premiere date, beyond a spring 2027 window (Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage))
- Whether Netflix will carry any season in any market, since no source confirms it
- Pia Tjelta’s character, which is not yet known (Screen Rant (film and TV news site))
- Which Rotten Tomatoes figure is current, since the 85% and 91% scores differ
- Whether a Season 2 trailer exists, since none appears in the sources gathered
The catch: confirmed facts cover the renewal, the platforms and the Season 1 finale, while everything about Season 2’s timing and characters still rests on announcements without an exact date.
What the people involved say
“If there’s one thing the Jackal can’t stand, it’s a loose end.”
Eddie Redmayne, cited by TV Insider (TV news site)
Sky’s Director of Original Drama, Meghan Lyvers, described Season 2 as “in the edit” at the 2026 Edinburgh TV Festival.
Meghan Lyvers, Sky, via Esquire UK (lifestyle and TV coverage)
“Tense and well-crafted update of a spy thriller.”
Jeff Ewing, critic, Collider (film and TV criticism site)
What this means: Redmayne’s line is a promise about the story, while Lyvers’s “in the edit” is the first hard signal on timing. Neither replaces a dated announcement from Peacock or Sky.
Where this leaves Season 2 viewers
Season 2 is no longer a question of whether, since Peacock announced the renewal on 22 November 2024, but of when and with whom. The cast list is filling in, and the remaining unknowns are the premiere date and platform rules outside the UK and US. For US viewers, the decision is a paid Peacock Premium subscription against waiting for a dated Season 2 window. Until Sky publishes a dated premiere, UK viewers should start Season 1 on Sky or NOW now and hold off on paying for anything new.
Related reading: Blood of My Blood Season 2: Release Date & Episodes · The Big C Cast: Every Main Actor and Character Explained
Frequently asked questions
Is Bianca in season 2 of The Jackal?
The Season 2 cast reported in these sources does not include Lashana Lynch, and Season 1 ends with the Jackal killing Bianca Pullman, according to TV Insider (TV news site).
Who plays the Jackal in the series?
Eddie Redmayne plays the Jackal in both seasons announced so far (TV Insider (TV news site)).
What is The Day of the Jackal TV series about?
The series follows the Jackal, an assassin, alongside MI6 agent Bianca Pullman, and it is based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel (Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)).
Which streamer released the series in the US?
Peacock premiered the series in the US on 14 November 2024, with Peacock Premium required to watch (Metacritic (review aggregator)).
Which UK services carry the series?
Sky Atlantic and NOW carry the series in the UK (T3 (streaming and entertainment coverage)).