The Serpent: Who are the real characters in The Serpent?
THE SERPENT is the new true-crime drama series on BBC One and viewers are curious to know more about the true story behind the series. Who are the real characters in The Serpent?
The Serpent: Jenna Coleman stars in BBC series trailer
WARNING: This article contains spoilers about The Serpent
Who are the real characters in The Serpent?
Charles Sobhraj/Alain GautierCharles Sobhraj is a French serial killer, thief and fraudster of Vietnamese and Indian origin.
He is also known as the Serpent, Bikini Killer and the Splitting Killer.
In 1976, Sabhraj is believed to have killed 10 travellers on the hippie trail through Nepal, Thailand and India.
His known victims were Teresa Knowlton, Vitali Hakim, Stephanie Parry, Cornelia Hemker and Henricus Bitanja, Laurent Carriere, Connie Bronzick, Allen Jacobs and Jean-Luc Solomon.
Today, Charles Sobhraj, 76, is serving out a life sentence in Kathmandu prison, Nepal.
He was first convicted and jailed in India from 1976 to 1997, for the murder of Frenchman Jean-Luc Solomon during a robbery in Bombay.
In November 2004, he was sentenced in Nepal to life in prison for the murder of Connie Jo Bronzich, a crime which took place in December 1975.He appealed his conviction twice but failed. Sobhraj was then convicted of the murder of Canadian backpacker Laurent Carrière in 2014.
He received another 20 years on his sentence, which he has not yet appealed.
Speaking to Express.co.uk and other press, Tahar Rahim revealed he would have considered meeting the real Charles Sobhraj.
He said: "It came up in my mind at some point if I could meet him when I was preparing for the show.
"And I thought about it, and at some point, I thought, it’s not a good thing to meet someone like this, to give them some kind of importance.
"But I wanted to meet him for many reasons, you know, when you see a real-life character you can mimic him, but I wanted to see how he would try to con me.
"That’s the reason why I wanted to meet him. So I could tell him it’s never gonna happen. But we – it was just an idea.”
READ MORE The Serpent: How did the real Marie-Andree Leclerc die?
Marie-Andrée Leclerc/Monique
Marie-Andrée Leclerc (Jenna Coleman) was a medical secretary from Levis, Quebec and like many others, embarked on the Hippie Trail in the spring of 1975.
She met French criminal Charles Sobhraj in Kashmir in 1975 and soon became his main accomplice in many of his scams, but had denied being aware of any killings.
She would travel with Sobhraj across Asia, using the passports of his victims and is believed to assist with drugging the victims.
Alongside Sobhraj, Leclerc was imprisoned and accused of complicity in the murders of Jean-Luc Solomon and Avoni Jacob.
She was acquitted of the crime towards Solomon but was convicted of the murder of Jacob.
Whilst incarcerated, she was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. As a result, the Indian Supreme Court ruled she could return to Canada.
She died on April 20, 1984. She was 38-years-old.
Herman Knippenberg (Billy Howle) was the Dutch junior diplomat who helped build a case against Charles Sobhraj.
Herman had begun looking into the disappearance of two Dutch travellers, Henk Bintanja and Cornelia Hemker, in 1976.
He soon discovered the pair were not only dead but had been murdered. They had also been misidentified as two missing Australian backpackers.
With the help of his wife Angela (Ellie Bamber), the couple helped hunt down and build a cast against serial Killer Charles Sobhraj in the 1970s.
Speaking to Express.co.uk and other press Howle shared he spoke with the real Herman Knippenberg, 76, to prepare for the role.
"And then when I spoke to Herman, it was incredibly enlightening… not only [for] the story, but his perception of the story and the events that took place are so far removed from my own experience in life that it wasn’t immediately relatable.
"So there was a lot of groundwork that needed to be done and I was very fortunate in being able to build that bond with Herman quite early on because he was able to fill in those gaps and increase my understanding of the situation.”
Herman is retired and now lives in Wellington, New Zealand with his second wife, Vanessa.
DON'T MISS...
The Serpent: What happened to Charles Sobhraj's first wife 'Juliette'? [INSIGHT]
Marie-Andrée Leclerc: What happened to Marie-Andrée Leclerc? [RECAP]
The Serpent cast: Who plays Helena Dekker in The Serpent? [CAST]
Ajay Chowdhury (Amesh Edireweera) was Charles Sobhraj's second-in-command.
The real Charles and Ajay are believed to have carried out their first known murders in 1975 and before then had committed a string of robberies by drugging their victims.
Chowdhury is suspected of burning victims' bodies to prevent quick identification, according to Nepal police and Interpol.
The real Ajay Chowdhury was last seen in Malaysia in 1976, after travelling there with Marie and Charles, all three using fake identities.
The last reported sighting of Chowdhury was in West Germany in late 1976, but he has never been located.
Some believe Ajay was murdered by Charles before he and Marie travelled to Geneva, but his remains have never been found.
The Interpol file on Chowdhury remains open today.
Nadine (Mathilde Warnier) and Remi Gires (Grégoire Isvarine) were the French neighbours of Charles and Marie in Thailand.
At the time, Sobhraj was posing as a gem dealer and Leclerc as his wife Monique.
In the series, it is revealed Nadine would introduce Alain to potential clients, some of whom would end up as his victims.
Nadine was unaware of Alain's murderous streak, until Dominique Renelleau (Fabien Frankel), a Frenchman Alain was holding captive in his apartment was able to tell her his suspicions.
As seen in the series, Nadine and her husband Remi assisted Herman Knippenberg and Angela with their investigation into Sobhraj.
Nadine even risked their lives by going undercover and taking photographs of the items left behind by the travellers such as Teresa Knowlton's (Alice Englert) green clock and other items that linked to the missing backpackers.
She also took pictures of Alain, Monique and Ajay in their apartment.
In an interview with The Mirror, the real Nadine Gires said: "Charles is a monster and I am terrified of him – I used to sleep with a baseball bat under my bed.
"But I have to admit that when we first met, I suspected nothing and was taken in by his charm."
At the end of The Serpent, it is revealed Nadine and her husband Remi returned to live in Thailand but are now divorced.
Today, she runs a beach resort in the south of Thailand.
Remi lives in the north of the country, where he grows tropical fruits to sell at markets.
Paul Siemons
Paul Siemons (Tim McInnerny) was a real Belgian diplomat, who worked for the Belgian Foreign Service in Thailand.
Siemons played a key role in helping junior Dutch diplomat, Herman Knippenberg build a case against French serial killer and thief, Charles Sobhraj in the 1980s.
Speaking to the BBC, McInnerny said: "Paul Siemons is an extraordinary character and was an extraordinary person.
"He makes a great foil for Herman. Consequently, his way of doing things can help or hinder."
He added: "Paul Siemons was different from most characters I had played: in the series, he is a combination of bitter, mean, intelligent, kind, cruel sentimental, funny and capricious. Hard to turn down. Always looking for a challenge…"
Dominique Renelleau (Fabien Frankel) was a young French traveller who fell into Charles Sobhraj's trap.
Sobhraj drugged Dominique and coerced him into working for him and Monique.
Whilst Dominique was ill, Sobhraj forged his passport, spent his money and let his visa expire, which meant he could not leave Thailand.
However, with the help of Sobhraj's neighbours, Nadine and Remi, Dominque was able to escape.
The real Dominique has lived a private life and very little is known about him.
At the end of The Serpent, it is revealed the real Dominique Renelleau lives in France today.
He is married with grown-up children and despite what happened to him in the 1970s, he remains a keen traveller.
Teresa Knowlton
Teresa Knowlton was Charles Sobhraj's first known victim.
She was found drowned in a tidal pool in the Gulf of Thailand, wearing a flowered bikini. At first, it was believed she had drowned in a swimming accident but forensic evidence later proved she had been murdered.
In the series, Teresa is portrayed by Australian actress Alice Englert.
After the premiere of The Serpent on New Year's Day 2021, Englert took to Instagram to reflect on the series.
She also thanked Teresa Knowlton's mother who spoke with Englert about portraying her daughter.
"Congratulations @taharrahimofficiel thank you for your work, your kindness and care playing this part.
"Love to and for Teresa Knowlton who I had the honour to play and her family.
"A special thanks to the member who was comfortable contacting me and talking about her with love and respect and to the writers and researchers who made that connection possible."
Helena Dekker (Ellie De Lange) and Willem Bloem (Armand Rosbak) represent the real-life couples and travellers who were killed by Charles Sobhraj and his accomplices Marie-Andrée Leclerc and Ajay Chowdhury across the hippie trail in the late 1970s.
There is a possibility they are loosely based on the Dutch students Henk Bintanja, 29, and his fiancée Cornelia Hemker, 25, were invited to Thailand after meeting Sobhraj in Hong Kong.
Their bodies were found strangled and burned on December 16, 1975, and it was later uncovered Sobhraj and Leclerc entered Nepal using the deceased pair's passports.
In The Serpent, it is the death of Helena and Willem which serves as the catalyst for Dutch junior diplomat Herman Knippenberg's hunt to catch Charles Sobhraj.
The Serpent is streaming on the BBC iPlayer and airs every Sunday at 9pm on BBC One