# The Little Drummer Girl (2018)

> A young British actress on holiday in Greece is drawn into a deadly espionage operation when a charming stranger reveals his true, manipulative purpose.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/66542

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 58 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, thriller
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Michael Shannon, Alexander Skarsgård, Florence Pugh, Michael Moshonov, Kate Sumpter, Simona Brown, Clare Holman, Gennady Fleyscher
- TMDB rating: 7.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7598448/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: dense
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: tense, paranoid, melancholic, intimate, bleak

## What critics say

Viewers found the slow-burn espionage miniseries tense and worthwhile, though its layered plot can be baffling until the details fall into place.

## Synopsis

The Little Drummer Girl (2018) is a British six-episode miniseries created for BBC One, adapted from John le Carré's novel. Florence Pugh plays Charmian "Charlie" Ross, a brilliant young stage actress whose holiday in Greece turns into a trap when she meets an intriguing stranger. Alexander Skarsgård plays Gadi Becker, the charming operative whose courtship conceals a covert plan, while Michael Shannon plays Martin Kurtz, the intelligence officer steering the operation from the shadows. Michael Moshonov and Lubna Azabal round out a cast that moves between European capitals and the Middle East. The engine of the series is a deception game: Charlie must decide how far she will go for a cause and a man she cannot fully trust, while the agents around her track every move. Each episode layers in another piece of the picture, rewarding patient viewers with a slow accumulation of tension rather than set-piece action. Set in 1979, the story has a pre digital texture of letters, meetings and physical surveillance, and it engages with the tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. The tone is simmering and paranoid, with a melancholy undercurrent of romance corrupted by politics. Fans of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Night Manager and Fauda will find resonance in its patient, morally murky espionage.

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