Alexander Skarsgard cast in BBC1 John Le Carré thriller The Little Drummer Girl

Following the BBC’s hugely successful series The Night Manager, another John le Carré adaptation is in the works starring Alexander Skarsgård.

The Little Drummer Girl is set in 1970s Greece, and follows aspiring actress Charlie (Florence Pugh) as she strikes up a friendship with a stranger while on holiday.

That stranger turns out to be an Israeli intelligence officer named Becker (Skarsgård), who entangles her in a complex and high-stakes plot when she realises his intentions are far from romantic.

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Skarsgård won an Emmy earlier this year for his role in Big Little Lies. He will next appear in the films Mute opposite Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux and The Aftermath alongside Keira Knightley.

The Night Manager, starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman won three Golden Globe Awards and was named Radio Times's TV Show of the Year when in aired in 2016. A second series of the show is said to be in development.

The BBC, along with US broadcast partner AMC and producers The Ink Factory, will begin production on the six-part adaptation of Little Drummer Girl in early 2018.