BBC's The Serpent's real-life serial killer subject of new Channel 4 documentary
BBC’s The Serpent’s real-life serial killer Charles Sobhraj is to be the subject of a new Channel 4 documentary.
The 2021 drama saw Tahar Rahim play Sobhraj, a convicted murderer who drugged, stole from, and killed backpackers in Southeast Asia in the 1970s, alongside Jenna Coleman who played his partner.
Now Deadline reports that Channel 4 is producing a new documentary based on the case, titled The Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer.
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Sobhraj has been in and out of prison for decades for his crimes, and even escaped at one point, but in December 2022 he was released from a Nepali prison after serving almost 20 years for two killings.
However, in 1977 he admitted to 10 murders before later withdrawing the confessions, and he is suspected of many more.
In the documentary, Sobhraj voluntarily puts himself forward to be interviewed by forensic psychologist Paul Britton about five killings in Thailand in 1975.
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Former Metropolitan Police detectives Jackie Malton and Gary Copson will re-examine these murders and interview key figures in the case in the new documentary to discover the truth about the crimes.
In a statement, Shaminder Nahal, Commissioning Editor and Head of Specialist Factual at Channel 4, said: "In the 70s, thousands of young people flocked to Asia to have adventures and learn about the world. Some of them ended up dead because of Charles Sobhraj. Today he is a free man, never having stood trial for many of the murders he is linked to.
"The big questions underpinning this series are whether fifty years on, there is any hope of getting the truth of these historic crimes and to get some accountability for the victims and their families. And how it is possible that a man believed to be one of the 20th century’s most devious and ruthless serial killers, is no longer in prison."
The Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer is coming to Channel 4, with a release date yet to be announced. The Serpent is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer and Netflix.
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