Spy thrillers and action shows have taken over the streaming world in the last 5–10 years, and few are operating at as high a level as Reacher. The Prime Video original thriller stars Alan Ritchson as the titular character, and although Season 4 has yet to premiere, the streamer has already picked up the show for Season 5. Reacher has become so popular that other services have begun to try and replicate its success — Netflix has settled on The Night Agent as its Reacher replacement series. Reacher is based on the series of novels written by author Lee Child, and like Ian Fleming’s James Bond writings, Child has confirmed that the inspiration for Reacher came from multiple sources. One of said sources is The Day of the Jackal, the acclaimed espionage novel written by Frederick Forsyth that was first adapted into a feature film in 1973.
Ronan Bennett took The Day of the Jackal novel and adapted it into a TV series a few years ago, tapping Eddie Redmayne (Fantastic Beasts) and Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel) as leads. The first season of The Day of the Jackal aired all the way back in 2024, and while the show has been picked up for Season 2, Peacock confirmed earlier this year that it won’t return to streaming until 2027. Production on Season 2 has been underway for a while now, which means the show should have little to no issue hitting its 2027 return date. There has been some turnover behind the scenes of the show in the creative department, which has possibly contributed to the lengthy delay between seasons.
Who Is ‘The Day of the Jackal’s New Showrunner?
Ronan Bennett was the lead writer and showrunner on the first season of The Day of the Jackal, but he has stepped back and been replaced by David Harrower in Season 2. This creative change was brought on only by scheduling conflicts for Bennett, who remains involved with the show as an executive producer — there was no reportedly no conflict that led to him stepping down. Harrower recently wrote episodes of the Colin Firth-led spy thriller on Peacock, Lockerbie: A Search for the Truth, and Bennett is also known for his work as the lead writer on MobLand, the Paramount+ crime thriller starring Tom Hardy and Pierce Brosnan.
Check out the first season of The Day of the Jackal on Peacock, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Season 2.
- Network
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Sky Atlantic
- Directors
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Brian Kirk
- Writers
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Ronan Bennett

















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