‘Victoria’ star Jenna Coleman wraps filming on new ’70s drama after Covid delay
Production is now complete on The Serpent!
Set in the 1970s, the upcoming crime drama is based on the phenomenal true story of how one of the most elusive criminals of the 20th century was caught and brought to trial.
While the fourth season of Victoria remains on hold, star Jenna Coleman kept herself busy filming a very different TV series in Thailand.
From the creator of Ripper Street and the makers of Endeavour, the eight-part mini-series was first announced back in 2017 and filming began last autumn.
However, the shoot was put on hold earlier this year due to the global coronavirus pandemic, along with production on the new seasons of Call the Midwife and Peaky Blinders.
Fortunately, we can now reveal that filming has now wrapped.
French actor Tahar Rahim (The Looming Tower, A Prophet), who is playing Charles Sobrhaj in the series, broke the news on his Instagram account, alongside a very ’70s photo of himself on set with Jenna Coleman.
He wrote: “It’s a wrap…. after one year. The SERPENT adventure will stay in my heart forever!!!”
He added: “Thanks and hats off to all my fellow actresses, actors, directors, writers and magnificent team …. I love you guys.”
The official synopsis for The Serpent reads: “Charles Sobhraj was the chief suspect in the unsolved murders of up to 20 young Western travellers across India, Thailand and Nepal’s ‘Hippie Trail’ in 1975 and 1976.
“Psychopath, con man, thief and master of disguise, having slipped repeatedly from the grasp of authorities worldwide, by 1976 serial killer Sobhraj was Interpol’s most wanted man and had arrest warrants on three different continents.
“When Herman Knippenberg, a junior diplomat at the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok, unwittingly walks into Sobhraj’s intricate web of crime, he sets off an extraordinary chain of events that will see Knippenberg seek to bring Sobhraj to justice for his terrible crimes.”
Director Tom Shankland (The Missing) previously commented: “Bringing the lost era of the hippie trail back to life has been a dream of mine, ever since I first went travelling in Asia and heard the name ‘Charles Sobhraj’ … I want to give a voice to those brave kids who set out with big dreams but never made it home.”
The Serpent will premiere on BBC One in the UK and internationally on Netflix in early 2021.
Victoria is available on DVD on Amazon.