The Day of the Jackal (2024) (2024)

The Day of the Jackal is a 2024 espionage thriller TV series and a co-production of the UK's Sky and the US streaming service Peacock. It is a modern-day adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's 1971 novel of the same name, developed by Ronan Bennett (Top Boy).

Eddie Redmayne stars as the eponymous Jackal, a professional assassin and Master of Disguise who charges tens of millions of dollars per contract and works hard to stay completely anonymous — until his most recent job, a sniper kill from a world record distance, draws the attention of British intelligence officer Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch). The pair are drawn into a cat-and-mouse game that challenges their personal and professional ethics, with the Jackal racing to fulfill his most lucrative contract yet and Pullman determined to stop him.

The series also stars Úrsula Corberó, Chukwudi Iwuji, Khalid Abdalla, Lia Williams and Charles Dance. Though initially commissioned as a miniseries, it was renewed for a second series in November 2024.

The Alcoholic: Pullman mentions in a security interview that her mother was an alcoholic, and later she makes a point to turn down alcoholic beverages with a colleague in a way that suggests she also struggles with addiction.
Ambiguously Bi: As in the source material, the Jackal is comfortable with being flirtatious with men in order to get what he needs, even when the audience knows he has a wife and child.
The Armorer: Norman Stoke, the former IRA gunsmith who designed the Jackal's custom sniper rifle. It's Pullman's connection to Stoke and his family that yield the first leads on the Jackal.
Black-and-Gray Morality: The Jackal is a sociopathic killer for hire, and his clients are billionaires hoping to cover up their own malfeasance. Meanwhile, British intelligence are willing to lie, manipulate, torture and kill in the course of their work, causing a number of civilian deaths in the process.
Code Name: The eponymous assassin.
Cold Sniper: The Jackal.
Deuteragonist: Pullman, as the character most active in the hunt for the Jackal. Her home life and professional history are developed over the course of the series.
Diplomatic Back Channel: Halcrow (Iwuji) admits to having a back-channel relationship with the CIA's local station chief — and the fact it's suddenly dried up clues him in to the presence of a mole in SIS.
The Handler: Zina Jansone, who works for Winthrop, acts as this for the Jackal on his current job.
Master of Disguise: The Jackal excels at using prosthetics and props to mask his appearance, whether its on the job or during his rare meetings with clients. In episode 6, a disguised Jackal spends an entire plane flight in the seat behind Pullman and isn't recognised.
The Mole: Early in the series, Pullman and Halcrow suspect a mole in British intelligence is leaking details of their investigation.
Multiple Identity IDs: The Jackal has a dozen of these, at least, in the Secret Room of his house.
Plot Parallel: The Jackal and Pullman's stories run roughly parallel for most of the series — they're both professionals, working on the biggest jobs of their careers, and the strain of it ultimately destroys their families.
Pulling the Thread: Nuria has no suspicions about her husband until she sees him in a taxi driving through the middle of town, roughly an hour after she dropped him off at the airport. While her initial suspicion is that he's having an affair, it leads her to investigate their home and lifestyle and eventually reveals that he's the Jackal.
Scaramanga Special: The Jackal's signature rifle is broken down and concealed as components of an ordinary suitcase, capable of passing through metal detectors and security checks without being discovered.
Secret Identity: The series' biggest departure from the novel is that unlike his literary counterpart, this Jackal has a home and a family who are unaware of his true occupation. He even seems to have some genuine affection for them.
Secret Room: The Jackal has one in his home which contains his tools of the trade. His wife Nuria and her family discover it, exposing his double life as a professional assassin.
Spy Speak: Once the Jackal has agreed to the Ulle Dag Charles contract, he and Jansone make a point to only use agreed-upon codenames in their communications. This is where the name "the Jackal" originates.
The Villain Knows Where You Live: In episode 4, Larry Stoke breaks in to Pullman's house, looking for revenge.
Villain Protagonist: The Jackal.
Worthy Opponent: The Jackal and Pullman eventually develop a grudging respect for one another's skills. The Jackal is eventually motivated to get help from Winthrop's people in keeping the British off his trail.
Your Head A-Splode: The Jackal's preferred method of killing is a headshot from a high-powered rifle at long range.