The Serpent

The Serpent

BBC One

Release Date: New Year’s Day

The seventies-set international crime thriller The Serpent follows the true story of global efforts to capture Interpol’s most wanted man, the murderer Charles Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim, A Prophet).

The eight-part series stars Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) as murderer Charles Sobhraj alongside Jenna Coleman (Victoria) as his partner Marie-Andrée Leclerc.

Inspired by true events, The Serpent follows the capture of Sobhraj (Rahim), a man who became Interpol’s most wanted man in the seventies. As the lead suspect in numerous unsolved murders of Western tourists across India, Thailand and Nepal, Sobhraj continually eluded imprisonment despite arrest warrants in three different continents.

They join Tahar Rahim (The Looming Tower) who will play real life serial killer Charles Sobhraj, one of the most evasive criminals of the 20^th century.

The series, written by Richard Warlow and Toby Finlay, follows Sobhraj’s murderous spree, which was estimated to have taken place between 1975 and 1976 across India, Thailand and Nepal’s ‘Hippie Trail’.

He was the chief suspect in almost 20 unsolved murders of young Western travellers during this time and by 1976 was Interpol’s most wanted man, with arrest warrants on three different continents.