The Serpent | 30 facts about the true – crime series

One of the new Netflix original series, that draw the attention of the viewers because it is based on a true – crime story, is “The Serpent”.

Let’s find out more about the series!

1. The Serpent is a British crime drama series.
2. The series is about the twisting, real-life story of Charles Sobhraj, a murderer, thief and seductive master of disguise, who was a hidden darkness in the mid-70’s on Asia’s hippie trail
3. It was developed by Mammoth Screen.
4. The Serpent started development way back in 2013. The project was green-lit in 2017, and began production 2019.
5. It was commissioned by the BBC.
6. It is a limited series, that consists of 8 episodes.
7. The eight-part limited series is a co-production between BBC One and Netflix.
8. It is based on the crimes of serial killer Charles Sobhraj.
9. He murdered young tourists between 1975–2000.
10. The series stars Tahar Rahim in the lead role as Sobhraj.
11. The series was shot on location in Thailand, until the COVID-19 pandemic.
12. The pandemic halted the production for five months from March 2020.
13. Filming was originally planned to resume in Budapest but transferred to Tring, Hertfordshire in the UK.
14. Filming was completed in Hertfordshire, England, during August 2020.
15. It premiered on BBC One on New Year’s Day in 2021.
16. All eight episodes were immediately made available on BBC iPlayer.
17. The show began streaming on Netflix in April 2021.
18. Herman Knippenberg and Nadine Gires visited the Bangkok set during filming
19. Jenna Coleman was asked to audition in French a language she doesn’t speak. She had to learn phonetically.
20. Jenna Coleman nearly turned down the role of Marie-Andrée Leclerc suggesting a French actress be cast instead.
21. The series depicts Angela Knippenberg (Ellie Bamber) in a background/passive role when in reality she and Herman had equally important roles in the investigation and hunt for Charles Sobhraj.
22. Foufou who plays Frankie the dog was a troublemaker onset and kept breaking things in his path.
23. One day the cast noticed he was calm and quiet what the producers didn’t tell anyone is they replaced Foufou with another dog.
24. Apart from learning a German accent Ellie Bamber had to learn to speak some Thai.
25. Herman Knippenberg’s wife Angela (Wade) went on to fulfil a very senior role at the United Nations in New York.
26. All the dialogues between William Brand (Ambassador van Dongen) and Billy Howle (Herman Knippenberg) are in genuine and comprehensible Dutch, though their pronunciation and intonation make it evident they don’t really master the language.
27. Based on a true story, Charles was dubbed ‘The Serpent’ due to his conniving ways and constant escape from reprimand. He was also nicknamed the ‘Bikini Killer’ due to the clothing worn by his victims.
28. The scene with Ajay in the opening of episode six, for example, wasn’t actually in the original script!
29. Outside of COVID, the crew’s second biggest interference was Bangkok’s incredibly unpredictable weather. Several outdoor scenes had to be re-shot three or four times!
30. The real Herman Knippenberg became involved in The Serpent back in 2013, when he gave the production team access to all of his own archive of documents and press cuttings.