The Serpent.

I've just watched the first episode and am quite hooked. It is quite unsettling, but less distasteful than the many crime thrillers in which the murders are carried out just for fun or to tease the police by leaving deliberate clues. At least in this case the motives and methods are clear from the start. I liked the very believable setting and characters, but I think it must have got under my skin as I had a dream about having my rings stolen!

I binged watched 5 episodes yesterday, its got me gripped! will be watching the other 3 today. The story is quoted as 'inspired by true events' which is a very vague statement as the story is basically an essence of the original story so not as accurate as a 'true story'. A lot of the characters and scenes surrounding it are fictionalized.
Dont let this put you off, it is a very good drama.

I watched the whole lot in one go yesterday. At first I thought it was a bit naff but I got hooked.
Absolutely fascinating story. A really strange/evil man. It always fascinates me when 2 evil people come together.

We watched the first episode and will watch the second tonight. DH not as keen as I am, so I may watch the rest on iplayer. Don't remember the case at all but I think they've caught the 70s very well. Jenna Colman is excellent.

I didn’t expect to be hooked, but am - we’ll be watching in iplayer rather than waiting till Sunday for the next episode.

I agree that evil like this needs to be brought to light, as a warning to young people who are mostly just as naive as we once were. And the Knippenburgs need acknowledgement for the work they did to bring these people to justice.

I have watched this but although I watch thrillers as escapism and can divorce them from RL, I feel very uncomfortable with this. It feels a bit kind of voyeuristic knowing this was based on true, and dreadful facts.

Greeneyedgirl

I have watched this but although I watch thrillers as escapism and can divorce them from RL, I feel very uncomfortable with this. It feels a bit kind of voyeuristic knowing this was based on true, and dreadful facts.

No more voyeuristic than White House Farm, which aired only last year I think.

We binged watched this yesterday too. Thought it only had 5 episodes but alas it didn't so continued to watch the next episode thinking it was the end alas it wasn't so have two more to go which will be viewed later today. It's very good. Jenna Coleman excellent. However a very sadistic story and unfortunately true. So sad.

Yes, you’re correct Calendargirl, there’s been quite a few grizzly RL dramas, and I just wonder if it’s right to turn them into “entertainment”? It raises awareness I suppose, but not sure that’s the motivation in making them, and wonder what any surviving relatives feel.

I watched episode 1 last night and was quite disappointed. The “serpent” I thought was either an appalling actor or the character was indeed totally charmless. I found it hard to see how people fell under his spell.
Psychopath maybe but a totally harmless one.

lovebeigecardigans1955

I thought it was interesting and will stick with it. It was a bit confusing with all the flashbacks but I decided to simply watch it as rather chilling entertainment rather than try to understand the sequence.
It's chilling when you think of how many youngsters go off on exotic adventures but can so easily find themselves in danger. We were all naive when we were young and thankfully this type of thing is rare.

Yes, that’s what I thought, and wondered if today’s twenty somethings are more cautious/ cynical and don’t trust as easily as in the 1970’s.Somehow though, I doubt it.
It’s awful to think ( as it’s based on a true case) that such cold bloodied evil killers are out there.

I hadn't intended to watch it but got drawn in. I must say I find dramas based on real life events more compelling and am intrigued to find out why so called 'evil' people turn out the way they do.

overthehill

Yes we'll continue watching. I did spot the evil couple at the airport with wheeled suitcases, I maybe wrong but don't believe they were around in the 70s

Alfred Krupa invented wheeled suitcases in about 1954. But yes, they were not a common sight in the 70s.

I finished watching this last night.
I thought it was a very good portrayal of how easily it is to be taken in by someone who was offering accommodation and you think is just being kind and friendly.
I can remember backpacking around Europe in the late 70’s and meeting someone on a train who offered us accommodation in his family’s house. We took it, as we couldn’t find anywhere else to stay and luckily it was genuine.

The Serpent admitted that he chose the vulnerable looking people at first, but then became more reckless. I think in the end he enjoyed the risk and challenging the police

Generally I am not affected by 'scary' tv programmes but find this one disturbing, especially as it says its based on a true story.
Maybe I remember my AC travelling in that part of the world on their own so many years ago.

Haven’t watched any of this yet - still absorbed in earlier Spiral - and hadn’t realised what it was about until reading a piece in today’s paper - a serial killer targeting backpackers.

This really struck a chilling chord, since at roughly the same sort of time, the son of a relative of dh disappeared while backpacking in Thailand. His travellers’ cheques were evidently cashed, but a body was never found.

His mother was white but his father was of Chinese origin, and sad to say, the family were told that if he’d looked like a local, rather than a Western tourist, then even if a body had been found it was unlikely that much action would have been taken, unless he’d very quickly been reported missing. But in the days before email and mobile phones it was probably at least a few weeks before anyone realised that anything was wrong.

Not sure I want to watch it now.
Like Silverlining, our dds went backpacking all over SE Asia, too.

I’m still watching this. It’s creepy, but still draws you in.

How did he keep getting away with it?

He certainly was clever with his manipulations and you can see how easily people could be sucked in thinking that he was a friendly generous man especially when they saw others all enjoying his hospitality and ‘living it up’
A really chilling story I ve read up on the man himself and he managed to wriggle away from sentences more than once he’s still alive but has severe heart problems
His partner died very young in real life I think she was about 38 from cancer (I think cervical )

Yes, we are watching it each week, three more episodes to go. It is scary when you think back to the 70’s and how gullible we were. I didn’t travel but it shows how easily young free people were taken in. Very scary on reflection. If I had seen this before my daughter went off travelling I might not have let her go!

I found it extremely disturbing but, not knowing the story, I did feel compelled to stick with it to find out how it ended.

The lead character wasn’t portrayed as charismatic which he must have been to have sucked so many young people into his web. Jenna Coleman was, by contrast, completely believable.

I binged it at the weekend, and was gripped. I agree that the way he was portrayed was not charismatic or attractive - he seemed to be wearing a bad wig, and appeared charmless, although as has been said, he must have been the opposite in real life.

I think the relationship between the main characters was a good portrayal of the way people get sucked in by psychopaths. They start by making you feel special and you get hooked on the feeling. Then they gradually withdraw their approval if you do anything to cross them, so you work harder and harder to make them happy. Meanwhile, you are slowly separated from friends and family, so the psychopath becomes your only source of support and contact, and in the end it is very difficult to get away, even if they have become abusive and you know that what they are doing is wrong. I thought Jenna Coleman played that very well, even though he was unconvincing.

I also liked the 'catch up' bits at the end, and hope that all the people caught up in catching him have managed to move on in some way. My heart goes out to the victims and their families, though.

I’m on episode 5 but keep having to turn it off and go back to it. Just as I think someone’s safe they’re suddenly in danger again and it freaks me out. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared watching a tv series except possibly The Living and the Dead that I gave up on at one point but then went back to.

Finished it. Binge watched the last three episodes. Glad I stuck with it. Need to watch something a bit lighter now having watched The Investigation and now this.

Was totally gripped by this. Amazing production.

I read that they had to stop filming in Thailand due to covid and had to complete it in the U.K. They did an amazing job.