The Serpent poster

The Serpent

★ 7.6 56K votes 2021–2021 1 season · 8 episodes Ended BBC One
True crimeReal cases, told as documentary or drama.This show: 8/10Period pieceSet meaningfully in a past era.This show: 8/10Tight limited runA compact, complete story told in just a few episodes.This show: 8/10Dark toneShadowy mood and subject matter, a shade short of outright bleak.This show: 8/10Villain's POVThe antagonist's side is the show's side.This show: 7/10Puzzle plotNonlinear timelines, twists and structural games that reward attention.This show: 7/10UnsettlingA creeping sense of unease and wrongness that gets under your skin.This show: 7/10Event miniseriesPrestige limited television built as an event.This show: 7/10
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Starring
Tahar RahimBilly HowleJenna ColemanEllie BamberMathilde WarnierGrégoire Isvarine
Starring
Tahar RahimBilly HowleJenna ColemanEllie BamberMathilde WarnierGrégoire Isvarine
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
03757501k2k

The Serpent Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E8
S17.77.27.48.07.77.87.57.88.0

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About

"A true crime slow burn dressed in 70s dread"

The Serpent dramatizes the true story of a con man who drugged and killed Western travelers along the 1970s hippie trail through Southeast Asia, while a Dutch diplomat obsessively pursues the truth. The series jumps between timelines and countries, slowly assembling how the killer operated and evaded capture for years. It is stylish and unhurried, more interested in atmosphere, period detail, and psychological unease than jump scares or shootouts. The tone is cold and clinical, carried by strong lead performances and a moody 70s aesthetic, making it a slow-burn character study rather than a conventional thriller.

Watch it for

the eerie period atmosphere and a chillingly charismatic performance as the real-life killer.

Maybe skip if

you dislike non-linear timelines or want fast-paced, action-driven crime storytelling.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

▼
Season 12021
7.78K87h 37m
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
▶1Episode #1.17.2
1K59 min
▶2Episode #1.27.4
1K58 min
▶3Episode #1.38.0
1K58 min
▶4Episode #1.47.7
1K58 min
▶5Episode #1.57.8
99055 min
▶6Episode #1.67.5
93256 min
▶7Episode #1.77.8
90255 min
▶8Episode #1.88.0
94958 min

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Tahar Rahim Charles Sobhraj
Billy Howle Herman Knippenberg
Jenna Coleman Marie-Andrée Leclerc
Ellie Bamber Angela Knippenberg
Mathilde Warnier Nadine Gires
Grégoire Isvarine Remi Gires
Tim McInnerny Paul Siemons
Amesh Edireweera Ajay Chowdhury
Apasiri Kulthanan Lawana
William Brand Ambassador van Dongen

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