New BBC John Le Carré series….

Following the recent success of The Night Manager, the BBC in conjunction with The Ink Factory and AMC are set to film a six part mini series adaptation of John Le Carré’s 1983 novel The Little Drummer Girl.

Welcome news for Le Carré fans and particularly given AMC’s involvement after their work on the acclaimed The Night Manager. There is a strong production team behind this new series along with director Park Chan-Wook who directed Stoker and The Handmaiden amongst others.

The story broke with Le Carré tradition in its move away from the usual theatre of espionage and centred around the Palestinian refugee camps and the turmoil between Israel and its neighbours. The novel’s main character is Charlie, an English actress who is recruited by Israeli intelligence to track down Khalil, a Palestinian bomber, the story follows her mental anguish as she begins to see the conflict from the Palestinian perspective. It is a typically clever plot by Le Carré and could be considered the first of the author’s foray into writing novels centred around his own personal views on specific world affairs.

I enjoyed the book, I know others who thought less of it but there is enough in the characters to keep Le Carré fans satisfied. This new mini series will be the second time the book has been adapted for the screen with George Roy Hill’s 1984 film starring Diane Keaton who plays the twentysomething English Charlie as a thirty plus year old American. I suspect this latest version will edge the film.

Filming begins in January 2018 with Le Carré being given his usual executive producer status.