A fascinating story told extremely poorly. The writing, direction and most of all editing is of such a low quality here and makes the show much more difficult to watch than it should be. None of the dialogue is natural and I was eventually screaming in anger at the screen whenever there was a time jump (which is every 10 minutes or so).

I'm wondering if there was some kind of rule that every scene needed to include a superfluous shot of a character lighting a cigarette or smoking one, especially while staring wistfully. Yeah we get it, people smoked in the 1970s. Apparently everyone.

The actors are a mixed bag too, with some doing well with the material they were given while others just aren't able to handle it. In particular, the lead role of Charles was miscast. Tahar Rahim projects none of the charisma we are supposed to understand the real man had, and is incredibly blank and flat throughout. Knippenberg is a problematic portrayal too, seemingly someone who will just have an angry, shouty outburst at the the tiniest provocation. How did this man become a diplomat if he's that on edge?

But there are good points. Jenna Coleman shows the most range and inhabits her role quite well (apart from the scenes where she seems to mimic Charles/Alain and just stares blankly at him while he speaks). I love the various accents and I think the cast did well there, with a wonderful use of different languages. The series makes good use of its locations and you can almost feel the heat. And on top of it all, the story itself is an intriguing one and easy to just let yourself get lost in. The show managed to create tension well where it was needed.

Less episodes would probably have benefited things, along with a much better method of telling the story.