The Serpent (TV series)

The Serpent
GenreCrime drama
Written by
  • Richard Warlow
  • Toby Finlay
Directed by
Starring
ComposerDominik Scherrer
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languages
  • English
  • French
  • Dutch
  • Thai
No. of series1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producers
  • Richard Warlow
  • Tom Shankland
  • Preethi Mavahalli
  • Damien Timmer
  • Lucy Richer
Production locations
  • India
  • United Kingdom
  • Thailand
Production companies
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release1 January (2021-01-01) 
14 February 2021 (2021-02-14)

The Serpent is a 2021 British crime drama television serial developed by Mammoth Screen and commissioned by the BBC. The eight-part series is a co-production between BBC One and Netflix. It is based on the crimes of French serial killer Charles "the Serpent" Sobhraj, who murdered young backpackers on the "hippie trail" from 1975 to 1976. The series stars Tahar Rahim in the lead role as Sobhraj.

The series was shot on location in Thailand, until the COVID-19 pandemic which halted production for five months from March 2020. Filming was completed in Hertfordshire, England, during August 2020. It premiered on BBC One on New Year's Day in 2021 and all eight episodes were immediately made available on BBC iPlayer. The show began streaming on Netflix in April 2021.