The Little Drummer Girl: Season 1

"Perhaps the most glorious part of The Little Drummer Girl, amongst the breathtaking architectural shots of staircases and the Acropolis, is the sheer beauty of the cinematography."

"It's all brilliantly, beautifully done and the dialogue sounds as good as everything else looks. By the end of the hour you're more firmly recruited than Charlie is."

"The acclaimed Korean director makes a stunning TV debut with Alexander Skarsgard, Florence Pugh, and Michael Shannon's fabulous accent."

"The Little Drummer Girl is best admired from a polite distance without trying to think too hard about whether it makes sense or is worth all the time and effort. But goodness, the show is lovely to look at."

"A story steeped in mystery, betrayal and thrills against a tense political backdrop."

""The Little Drummer Girl" by director Park Chan-wook is slow to build and relies too much on the nonexistent chemistry between characters - and shots of a braless Charlie in sheer dresses."

"Park has fashioned an ending, presumably with Le Carré's approval, that's quite different in tone from the original, but moving and effective in its own right."

"Even at its best, it can feel theoretical and bloodless, less an international potboiler with life-and-death stakes than a series of propositions being carefully considered by the people staging them."

"It's a complex and meticulously plotted story, one that would be easy to turn into a muddled mess on the screen. But so far, Park Chan-wook's gripping, lively adaptation is proving more than up to the task."

"Writer Michael Lesslie succeeds at shrouding most of the plot in a veil of mystery, purposefully leaving out clarifying details and refusing to spoon-feed character names and historical context for the audience."

"Between Florence Pugh's mesmerizing, multifaceted performance and Park Chan-wook's keen directorial eye, the good far outweighs the bad here."

"For a thriller it was perhaps too light on thrills, but anyone berating the BBC for a lack of artistry or ambition should take a look at this and think again."