The Serpent

This is a very energetic, fast paced drama. Visually it looks so good, the production values are excellent. A particularly good cast, once again I'm impressed with Jenna Coleman. It's one of those dramas that you need to concentrate hard on, as it is a little deep, and could be seen as confusing. After being starved of drama for obvious reasons, it was nice to start 2021 with something this good. You couldn't switch the BBC on without seeing a trailer for it, they certainly went to town to advertise it. Hard to fault. 8/10.

I liked the suspense of the show, and the real story is pretty fascinating, but as others have pointed out, the time line jumps around too much and Rahim's acting is flat for playing someone who was supposed to have been charismatic. It also cracks me up that so many people on here complain about Brits playing Dutch and French Canadians but no one seems to care that the real-life Sobhraj is Asian (Vietnamese and Sindhi), and Rahim clearly is not. I found it irritating that the show's characters constantly make reference to him being or appearing Asian but Rahim doesn't look Asian at all (because he isn't). I guess he gets a pass because he's a native French speaker? Come on! You can't tell me there aren't French-speaking Asian actors out there.

Thrilling show. Really gets me in the feeling of the 70's.

Only disappointing thing is 'knippenberg' speaking Dutch. Why not choose a Dutch actor for this role, or just skip the speaking bad Dutch part.

Good start to the show but I just do not understand why they would have a person playing a Dutchman (Billy Howle - Herman Knippenberg) that obviously does not understand or speak Dutch. It would have been better to not have him say anyhthing in "Dutch" as I have no clue what he is actually saying. I don't understand why the actual Dutch actors didn't comment on this? The first episode looks good though and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.

Excellent, gripping drama. Well acted throughout. The story would be unbelievable if it were not true! Some reviews have pointed out the frequent timeline jumping. I personally found that watching it as a "box set" seemed to lessen that feeling. A refreshing change to see a work of such high quality from BBC these days!