Alexander Skarsgard, Florence Pugh in The Little Drummer Girl

BBC’s ‘spectacular’ 6-part drama is your next Netflix binge

Florence Pugh stars in the BBC’s hit 2018 series, The Little Drummer Girl, which is based on John le Carré’s 1983 novel and comes to Netflix on 2 May

he BBC has a great track record when it comes to gripping spy thrillers. From The Night Manager to Killing Eve and The Capture, the broadcaster has produced an endless list of binge-worthy shows – and one of them is about to land on Netflix.

The 2018 series, The Little Drummer Girl, arrives on the streaming platform on 2 May – and with a stellar cast and Rotten Tomatoes score of 95 per cent, it’s not to be missed!

Florence Pugh in The Little Drummer Girl© Alamy Stock Photo
Florence Pugh stars in The Little Drummer Girl

Florence Pugh stars in the series, which is a six-part adaptation of John le Carré’s 1983 novel of the same name, alongside Michael Shannon, Alexander Skarsgård and Charles Dance. The story follows a young actress who becomes wrapped up in a deadly espionage sting in the late 1970s.

The drama comes from The Ink Factory, the production company behind The Night Manager, and is penned by Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) and Claire Wilson (Rocks).

What is The Little Drummer Girl about?

Billed as a “passionate love story and a deeply immersive thriller,” the series follows Charlie (Pugh), a young but unfulfilled actress, who meets a mysterious stranger, Becker (Skarsgård), while on holiday in Greece.

It soon becomes apparent that his intentions are not what they seem, and Becker, an Israeli intelligence officer, entangles her in a complex plot orchestrated by Spymaster, Kurtz (Shannon).

The synopsis, via The Ink Factory, continues: “Charlie takes on the role of a lifetime as a double agent in the ‘Theatre of the Real’, but despite her natural mastery of the task at hand, she increasingly finds herself inexorably drawn into a dangerous world of duplicity and compromised humanity.

Florence Pugh, Alexander Skarsgard in The Little Drummer Girl© Alamy Stock Photo
The series comes to Netflix on 2 May

“Blurring the fine lines between love and hate; truth and fiction; and right and wrong; The Little Drummer Girl weaves a suspenseful and explosive story of espionage and high-stakes international intrigue.”

What have viewers and critics said about the show?

Viewers have hailed the series as “spectacular” and a “beautiful” adaptation of le Carré’s novel.

Florence Pugh's short cut's give off that Britpop edge © AFP via Getty Images
Florence Pugh leads the cast as Charlie, a young actress who becomes wrapped up in a deadly espionage plot

One person wrote on social media: “Superb cast, brilliantly shot with 70s stylisation, Le Carré’s excellent plotting and tortured ethics,” while another added: “Finished all the episodes & thoroughly enjoyed the gripping espionage drama.”

The series was met with positive reviews from TV critics, with The Guardian hailing the show as “all brilliantly, beautifully done” in its four-star review, while The Telegraph also handed out four stars, describing episode one as “tantalising,” noting that it lacks the “dizzying high gloss and dazzling contemporary pulchritude” of The Night Manager.

How to watch The Little Drummer Girl

Viewers don’t have long to wait as the series arrives on Netflix on 2 May. The Little Drummer Girl is also available to stream on BBC iPlayer.