Bringing The Drama To Life The Serpent is a new BBC drama set in the 1970s which started on New Year’s Day and here’s an interview with its exec producer Preethi Mavahalli from Mammoth Screen… You’ve been developing The Serpent for a number of years, can you tell us how the series came about and
Director Tom Shankland, writer Richard Warlow and exec producers Preethi Mavahalli and Damien Timmer take DQ along the 1970s ‘Hippie Trail’ to reveal the long journey to making BBC and Netflix drama The Serpent.
Delays are not uncommon when making TV series, but eight-part drama The Serpent has seen off more hold-ups and difficulties than most. During a seven-year journey to bring the story of murderer Charles Sobhraj to the screen, the production went through an extensive research and development phase before overcoming Thailand’s rainy season, actor availability issues and a global pandemic.
Inspired by real events, the show follows the long road to the apprehension of Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim), a serial killer who preyed on young Western travellers across India, Thailand and Nepal’s ‘Hippie Trail’ in 1975 and 1976 – crimes that made him Interpol’s most wanted man.