Jenna Coleman looks very different from Queen Victoria in new period drama

The first images from Jenna Coleman’s new TV project have been released.

While Victoria fans wait patiently for confirmation of a fourth season of ITV’s series about Queen Victoria, Coleman has been busy filming another period drama in Thailand.

Her new BBC crime series comes from the creator of Ripper Street and the makers of Poldark and Endeavour.

Set in the 1970s, The Serpent is based on the phenomenal true story of how Charles Sobrhaj, one of the most elusive criminals of the 20th century, was caught and brought to trial.

The eight-part mini-series was first announced back in 2017 and production began last autumn.

Here’s a promotional photo of Billy Howle (Dunkirk) and Ellie Bamber (Les Misérables) as Herman Knippenberg and Angela Knippenberg:

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.”

Here’s our first look at French actor Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) as Charles Sobraj with Jenna Coleman as Marie-Andrée Leclerc, Sobhraj’s partner and frequent accomplice:

Ripper Street writer Richard Warlow previously commented: “I’ve been hoping for this news since [director] Tom Shankland first told me the tale of Herman Knippenberg’s pursuit of Charles Sobhraj across the nexus points of the Hippie Trail. That the story happens to be entirely true is a gift.

“I don’t think I could ever invent the corrupt magnetism of Sobhraj’s evil charisma, nor the everyman’s decency with which Knippenberg – now our friend and collaborator – brought some measure of justice to those who went to seek new horizons but never returned.”

The Serpent will premiere later this year on BBC One in the UK and internationally on Netflix.

The creator of Victoria recently explained why they’ll have to replace Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria with an older actress at some point.

Victoria is available on DVD on Amazon.