The Little Drummer Girl (TV series)

This article is about the 2018 TV series. For the 1984 film, see The Little Drummer Girl (film). For the source novel, see The Little Drummer Girl.

The Little Drummer Girl
Genre	Drama Espionage
Based on	The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carré
Written by	Michael Lesslie Claire Wilson
Directed by	Park Chan-wook
Starring	Michael Shannon Alexander Skarsgård Florence Pugh Michael Moshonov Simona Brown Clare Holman Charles Dance
Music by	Jo Yeong-wook
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producers	Stephen Cornwell Simon Cornwell Joseph Tsai Park Chan-wook Michael Lesslie John le Carré Arthur Wang Wonjo Jeong
Producer	Laura Hastings-Smith
Production locations	London Athens Prague
Cinematography	Kim Woo-hyung
Editors	Fiona DeSouza Michael Harrowes Justine Wright
Production companies	BBC Studios AMC Studios The Ink Factory 127 Wall Productions
Original release
Network	BBC One AMC
Release	28 October (2018-10-28) – 2 December 2018 (2018-12-02)

The Little Drummer Girl is a British television spy drama based on the 1983 novel of the same name by John le Carré and first aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 28 October 2018 and in the United States during November 2018.

Premise

In 1979, an aspiring English actress is recruited by Mossad to infiltrate a Palestinian group plotting terrorism in Europe.

Cast

• Michael Shannon as Martin Kurtz, an Israeli spymaster working in a clandestine agency.
• Alexander Skarsgård as Gadi Becker, a mysterious man whom Charlie encounters on holiday in Greece and becomes her holiday fling. He is then revealed as an Israeli intelligence officer.
• Florence Pugh as Charmian "Charlie" Ross, a radical left-wing English actress in her early 20s who in 1979 is sucked into a story of espionage.
• Michael Moshonov as Shimon Litvak, a key Israeli member of Kurtz's team.
• Simona Brown as Rachel, a charismatic young operative working in Kurtz's team.
• Jeff Wilbusch as Anton Mesterbein, a Swiss lawyer and an associate of Michel.
• Clare Holman as Miss Bach, an Englishwoman who is a key member of Kurtz's Munich team.
• Daniel Litman as Daniel, an operative working in Kurtz's team.
• Kate Sumpter as Rose, an operative working with Kurtz's team who befriends Charlie in Greece.
• Gennady Fleyscher as Schwilli
• Alessandro Piavani as Rossino, an Italian terrorist working with the Palestinians.
• Amir Khoury as Michel, a Palestinian revolutionary who runs a terror network in Europe and Khalil's youngest brother.
• Charles Dance as Commander Picton, a British secret service official.
• Alexander Beyer as Dr Paul Alexis
• Lubna Azabal as Fatmeh, sister of Khalil and Michel.
• Max Irons as Al, Charlie's on and off boyfriend, a self-righteously political and big-headed actor.
• Katharina Schüttler as Helga, a radical left-wing revolutionary who helps Michel recruit disillusioned European women into his network.
• Adel Bencherif as Tayeh, the commander of a Palestinian terrorist camp.
• Bethany Muir as Sophie
• Charif Ghattas as Khalil Al Khadar
• Iben Akerlie as Anna Witgen, Michel's girlfriend and accomplice.
• Mark Stanley as Arthur A Halloran, an unstable American trainee in the Palestinian camp who helps to train other foreign volunteers to become bombers.
• Ricki Hayut as Professor Irene Minkel, a liberal Israeli academic and peace campaigner who is targeted for assassination.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	US air date	UK viewers (millions)	US viewers (millions)
1	"Episode 1"	Park Chan-wook	Michael Lesslie	28 October 2018 (2018-10-28)	19 November 2018	8.17	0.40
In 1979 West Germany, the Palestinian terrorist Michel and his Swedish accomplice and girlfriend Anna Witgen kill the eight-year-old son of an Israeli diplomat with a pipe bomb. Senior Mossad spy Martin Kurtz is dispatched to Europe to hunt down and eliminate the Palestinian terror cell, which is led by Michel's wily older brother Khalil. Under Kurtz's orders, a Mossad team including Rachel kidnap Michel on the Greek-Turkish border while he is smuggling semtex in his red Mercedes-Benz W123. Meanwhile, left-wing English stage actress Charmian "Charlie" Ross and her troupe tour Greece as part of a corporate "charity job." While Charlie and her fellow actors are visiting a beach, she takes an interest in a mysterious handsome man, who is actually an undercover Mossad agent called Gadi Becker. After treating Charlie to a date at the Parthenon, Gadi introduces Charlie to his Mossad team including Martin.
2	"Episode 2"	Park Chan-wook	Michael Lesslie	4 November 2018 (2018-11-04)	19 November 2018	5.82	0.40
In Athens, Martin subjects Charlie to an "audition", asking her questions about her past. When Charlie lies about her family background, Martin decides that they can use her acting talents to infiltrate and eliminate Khalil's terror network. Meanwhile, the captive Michel is held at a Mossad safehouse in Munich where he is tricked by his Mossad captors led by Martin's lieutenant Shimon into believing he is in an Israeli prison. Using a combination of drugs and psychological pressure including a faked letter from Michel's sister Fatmeh and a faked photo of a captive Khalil, Shimon's team discover that Michel was supposed to deliver the semtex shipment to Salzburg in Austria. Back in Greece, Gadi coaches Charlie into posing as one of Michel's girlfriends. As part of the training, Gadi role-plays as Michel. Charlie exacts a promise from Gadi to tell her more about himself in return for her work as a spy.
3	"Episode 3"	Park Chan-wook	Claire Wilson	11 November 2018 (2018-11-11)	20 November 2018	N/A	0.23
As part of her rookie mission, Charlie is tasked with smuggling the semtex inside Michel's red Mercedes through Yugoslavia and into Austria. Gadi and the rest of the team monitor Charlie's movements from a safe distance. Meanwhile, Shimon's Munich team discovers that Michel has lied about the drop-off point. Shimon breaks Michel by revealing that his imprisonment was a set-up and secures the true drop-off zone: an Austrian town called Kleinalm. After being informed by Gadi about the change in destination, Charlie arrives in Kleinalm where she parks the car in the town square. Michel's girlfriend Anna drives the vehicle but is intercepted and captured by Mossad agents. Arriving at the Munich safe house, Charlie is horrified by the treatment of the drugged-up Michel. Nevertheless, she continues with the mission and writes fake love letters to Michel to perpetuate the ruse that she is one of his many lovers. After a one-night stand with Gadi, Charlie returns to London to await contact with Khalil's local associates. Back in Munich, the Mossad team eliminate Michel and Anna in a staged motor accident.
4	"Episode 4"	Park Chan-wook	Michael Lesslie	18 November 2018 (2018-11-18)	20 November 2018	N/A	0.23
Back in London, Charlie continues her spy training under the tutelage of Gadi, who outfits her with a transmitter. Charlie is eventually contacted by Michel's associates including Anton (Jeff Wilbusch) and Helga (Katharina Schüttler). While meeting with them in a caravan, she first learns of the deaths of Michel and Anna. Her grief-stricken reaction to Michel's death convinces Anton and Helga that she was in love with Michel and is also sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. While initially angry about Michel's killing, Charlie develops romantic feelings for Gadi. Later, Helga and her associates kidnap Charlie and smuggle her to Lebanon where she meets Michel's sister Fatmeh. Charlie manages to convince Fatmeh that she was romantically involved with her brother. While Martin is pleased with the progress of the mission, Gadi is concerned about Charlie's well-being due to his feelings for her.
5	"Episode 5"	Park Chan-wook	Claire Wilson	25 November 2018 (2018-11-25)	21 November 2018	N/A	0.30
In Lebanon, Charlie undergoes training at a Palestinian militant camp. A disillusioned American trainee named Arthur Allen accuses her of spying but she turns the tables on him, and he's shot to death by guards trying to flee. After an Israeli journalist in Lyon is assassinated, the Israeli Air Force bombs the Palestinian camps in Lebanon. Back in London, Martin's Mossad team discover that Khalil and his team are planning to assassinate liberal Israeli academic Irene Minkel, who is visiting London Polytechnic. Having gained the militants' trust, Charlie is given the mission of assassinating Minkel. Returning to London, Charlie passes the suitcase carrying the bomb to the Mossad team only to discover that it's a decoy. Later, Charlie is taken to meet Khalil, the cell's mastermind.
6	"Episode 6"	Park Chan-wook	Michael Lesslie	2 December 2018 (2018-12-02)	21 November 2018	N/A	0.30
Charlie ingratiates herself with Khalil, gaining his trust; and Martin realises that there is a better way – to leave Khalil unharmed, but to let him rise in the Palestinian hierarchy, having access to his thinking all the time through Charlie. She delivers the suitcase bomb to her Mossad handlers who are working with British police led by Commander Picton. The Israeli and British police services stage a fake explosion and spread disinformation that Professor Minkel was killed. Under orders from her Mossad handlers, Charlie returns to Khalil, claiming the mission was a success. The two make love and share a bed. The next morning, Khalil becomes suspicious and prompts Charlie to confess her deception. Gadi intervenes and shoots Khalil dead, leaving Charlie distraught by her feelings for Khalil. Mossad operatives hunt down and kill Khalil’s associates. Though still uncomfortable about the killings, Charlie meets up with her lover Gadi in Germany.

Reception

The series holds an approval rating of 95% based on 67 critics, and an average score of 7.77/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics' consensus reads "The Little Drummer Girl marches to a steady beat of assured plotting, extraordinary art direction, and a uniformly terrific cast that makes the show's smolderingly slow burn pace bearable." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 18 reviews, signifying "generally favorable reviews".

Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair praised Florence Pugh's acting but criticized elements of the story. Alan Sepinwell of Rolling Stone awarded The Little Drummer Girl 3.5 out of five stars, praising the acting and lush presentation but criticizing what he regarded as the show's "convoluted" story. He observed that it followed the formula of the critically acclaimed The Night Manager television series, an adaptation of another one of Le Carré's novels. Judy Berman, reviewing for TIME, praised the TV series for its suspense, exploring moral dilemmas and the legacy of British foreign policy in the Middle East, and for having nuanced characters on both sides.

Troy Patterson of The New Yorker described the series as a "subtly nutty geopolitical thriller distilled to an exercise in psychological suspense". He also praised Florence Pugh, Alexander Skarsgård, and Michael Shannon's performances as the main protagonists Charlie Ross, Gadi Becker, and Martin Kurtz. Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture described the series as "a lavishly produced, intelligent, tasteful mixed bag, more interesting to think about than to watch." Jesse Schedeen of IGN awarded the series 8.2 out of 10, praising Pugh's "mesmerizing" performance and Park Chan-Wook's strong directorial vision for overcoming its storytelling flaws.

External links

• The Little Drummer Girl at BBC Online
• The Little Drummer Girl at IMDb
• The Little Drummer Girl on Rotten Tomatoes, Flixster Inc.