Tom Hardy's 4-Part Crime Miniseries Is Still a Near-Perfect Watch 17 Years Later

Today, actor Tom Hardy is firmly established as a major movie star, known for leading roles in films like Inception, Mad Max: Fury Road, and as the face of the Venom franchise, while also continuing to make an impact on television with projects like MobLand. But before his Hollywood breakthrough, Hardy was already making a powerful impression on British TV, showcasing the raw intensity and unpredictability that would come to define his career.

Based on Martina Cole’s novel of the same name, the four-episode miniseries The Take gave Hardy an unflinching role as a recently released prisoner re-entering the world as a hardened criminal. Starring opposite the formidable Brian Cox, the series is a gritty British crime drama unafraid to examine the brutal consequences of a life of crime, not just on the man at its center, but on his family and everyone pulled into his orbit. It’s a performance that revealed exactly what Hardy was capable of long before he became a household name.

What Is Crime Miniseries 'The Take' About?

The Take centers on Freddie Jackson (Hardy), a violent, impulsive criminal newly released from prison and incapable of leaving that life behind. Freddie is reckless, charismatic, and terrifyingly unpredictable, able to shift from joking charm to explosive violence in a heartbeat, especially when he feels disrespected or cornered. Hardy leans fully into that volatility, making Freddie both magnetic and deeply unsettling to watch.

Pulled into Freddie’s orbit is his cousin Jimmy Jackson (Shaun Evans), a quieter, more calculating figure who knows better but struggles to break free. Their partnership is strained from the first episode, fueled by resentment, jealousy, and a shared sense of obligation. Freddie’s connections from inside lead them to Ozzy (Cox), a Godfather-like crime boss whose seasoned authority contrasts sharply with Freddie’s unchecked aggression. The dynamic between Ozzy’s manipulation and Freddie’s volatility forms the backbone of the series, driving a slow-burning power struggle that escalates with each episode.

Freddie’s volatile marriage to Jackie (Kierston Wareing), compounded by her sister’s relationship with Jimmy, further destabilizes an already fragile situation, putting both the criminal enterprise and the family at risk. What makes The Take especially powerful is its refusal to romanticize Freddie’s life of crime. The series shows how his choices destroy his marriage and leave him incapable of achieving the stability and love that Jimmy finds elsewhere, with the fallout rippling outward to devastating effect. That damage ultimately reaches Freddie’s young son, with heartbreakingly tragic consequences that alter everything. Told across just four episodes, The Take unfolds as a complete, brutal tragedy, anchored by fearless performances and an unflinching look at the true cost of this life.

Tom Hardy's Role in 'The Take' Set the Stage for His Most Iconic Characters

The most magnetic thing about Tom Hardy as an actor has always been his screen presence. He has a rare ability to be terrifying, funny, charismatic, and deeply vulnerable, sometimes all within the same scene, and The Take puts every one of those qualities to use. As Freddie Jackson, Hardy delivers a performance that feels raw and unfiltered, capturing the kind of feral, volatile masculinity that would later define many of his most memorable roles. While he had already made waves in projects like Bronson and RocknRolla, The Take gave him the space to fully inhabit a character driven by impulse, insecurity, and a desperate instinct for survival.

It’s easy to trace a direct line from Freddie Jackson to later Hardy characters like John Fitzgerald in The Revenant, Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, and even Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road. Freddie is abrasive, alluring, and deeply self-destructive, and The Take never asks the audience to root for him. Instead, Hardy’s sheer magnetism pulls you in as he leans fully into the discomfort, making that volatility the engine of the series, from sudden bursts of brutal violence, like smashing someone’s head into a television, to shocking acts such as throwing a man off a boat, underscoring just how dangerous Freddie truly is.

Brian Cox’s presence only sharpens that effect. As Ozzy, a calculating, old-school crime boss, Cox provides a chilling counterweight to Hardy’s chaos. Long before Succession cemented his legacy as Logan Roy, Cox was already a master of controlled menace, seen in roles like Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter and Ward Abbott in The Bourne Identity. In The Take, Ozzy represents a quieter, more insidious form of power, as someone who understands exactly how to manipulate both Freddie and Jimmy to get what he wants without ever getting his hands dirty.

Those performances, combined with the series’ tightly woven storytelling, are what make The Take so worth revisiting. It’s undeniably dark and often difficult to watch, but sixteen years later, the miniseries plays like a snapshot of two powerhouse actors at pivotal moments in their careers, with Hardy on the brink of superstardom. For fans of gritty drama, it’s a four-episode binge that’s more than worth revisiting or discovering for the first time.