The BBC dropped its newest true crime series last week and tempted us all with a host of big names and even bigger sunglasses. The 70s drama, featuring Doctor Who’s Jenna Coleman, Tahar Rahim, Billy Howle and Ellie Bamber focuses on notorious serial killer Charles Sobhraj. But what is The Serpent true story, and did it happen in real life? Basically: yes. The Serpent, or the “Bikini Killer”, as he came to be known, was a real serial killer who operated in the 1970s and was at one point Interpol’s most wanted criminal. He killed at least 12 tourists along the “Hippie Trail” in Nepal, India and Thailand. Sobhraj posed as a gems dealer and plied backpackers with booze, drugs and offered shelter to win their trust. Then he drugged and killed them, sometimes by stabbing them or even burning them alive.