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A “masterpiece” that comes from the creator of The Night Manager can be streamed for free.

The Night Manager has made its comeback to our screens, but there’s another “utterly amazing” drama that fans can binge-watch.

It’s been a decade since BBC viewers last saw Loki star Tom Hiddleston as former soldier Jonathan Pine, and now he’s returned for a second series which was initially revealed, much to everyone’s astonishment, in 2024.

The Night Manager, which draws from the bestselling 1990s novel of the same title, isn’t the sole John le Carré tale brought to television.

Eight years ago, another of le Carré’s narratives was transformed into a mini-series focusing on Charlie, an English actress recruited by Israeli intelligence to penetrate a Palestinian terrorist organisation by masquerading as the girlfriend of a bomber’s sibling.

Branded as both the “ultimate spy novel” and “one of the most beautiful heartwrenching love stories”, this alternative to The Night Manager shouldn’t be overlooked.

The Little Drummer Girl, which is available to stream without charge on BBC iPlayer, has garnered tremendous acclaim since its original broadcast.

Writing on IMDb, one viewer remarked: “This was such a breathtaking screen adaptation.”

Another agreed: “This is a beautifully made, written, directed and acted period thriller that has it all.

“This is not your typical Hollywood action fodder but an elegant and stylish piece of theatre,” a third contributor noted.

One devoted fan branded it “utterly amazing” whilst another viewer hailed it as a “masterpiece of acting, pacing and writing”. One viewer gushed: “I am speechless and overwhelmed…This has left me wanting for more, unlike The Night Manager.”

With a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%, on par with The Night Manager, The Little Drummer Girl boasts an impressive cast.

At the centre of the drama is Florence Pugh, known for her roles in Marvel’s Thunderbolts, Little Women and Oppenheimer, who plays Charlie.

She stars alongside Alexander Skarsgard, famed for his roles as Eric Northman in True Blood, Perry Wright in Big Little Lies and Tarzan in the 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan.

Other notable names include Michael Shannon from Death By Lightning, Simona Brown of Behind Her Eyes fame and Clare Holman, known for Inspector Morse.

The Little Drummer Girl is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, who Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky named as his new chief of staff on Friday, tells The War Zone that the job will center on figuring out a way to end the war and helping to calm his country’s political turmoil. Until today, Budanov served as the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR). Budanov’s frequent high-profile attacks on Russia and cool demeanor have made him so famous that memes of him have gone viral. He takes over from Andrii Yermak, a controversial and polarizing figure recently fired for his role in a burgeoning corruption scandal.

In a brief but exclusive conversation, Budanov told us his main goals for his new position are “negotiations and stabilization of the internal situation and of course, coordination.” He added that he will no longer have a role with GUR’s operations.

“It’s absolutely a new page,” he told us, noting that he will still be in the military and retain his rank, but will “miss” direct involvement in GUR actions.

As for the internal issues he is most concerned about, Budanov said, “I’ll see.”

Budanov’s appointment comes at a perilous moment. Ukraine is facing an intense fight in the east and south, under constant Russian missile and drone attacks and negotiations are ongoing to end the full-on war.

“I met with Kyrylo Budanov and offered him to head the Office of the President of Ukraine,” Zelensky explained. “Right now, Ukraine needs to focus more on security issues, the development of the Defense and Security Forces of Ukraine, as well as on the diplomatic track in negotiations, and the Office of the President will serve to fulfill primarily such tasks of our state.”

Budanov “has special experience in these areas and sufficient strength to achieve results,” Zelensky noted. “I also instructed the new head of the President’s Office to, in cooperation with the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and other necessary leaders and institutions, update and present for approval the strategic foundations of defense and development of our state and further steps.”

Naming Budanov gives Zelensky a degree of political and military cover at a precarious time. The former GUR commander is well-regarded both at home and abroad, and his presence at the top of the government gives Zelensky a key aide with gravitas. On the downside, Budanov comes to the job with little experience dealing with the political and bureaucratic minutiae that a chief of staff must master to keep the government running at a time of war. 

For Budanov, the move is the latest step in a career that saw him become a national hero after being thrice wounded fighting against Russians since they first invaded in 2014. He was promoted to brigadier general and named head of GUR in 2020 and burst onto the international scene a year later when he laid out how and when Russia would launch its full-on invasion three months before it would happen.

Since then, Budanov has transformed GUR into a cutting-edge military and intelligence unit that helped develop uncrewed surface vessel warfare, staged helicopter raids behind the lines as well as cyber attacks and suspected assassinations of Russian military leaders. He has also survived several assassination attempts and was charged in absentia with committing acts of terrorism related to the Oct. 8, 2022 Kerch Bridge attack.

Budanov recently ventured into the world of diplomacy, taking part last month in the ongoing peace talks.

The exploits of Budanov, who has frequently commented on the conflict for The War Zone and other publications, has made him a top contender to succeed Zelensky in the next election despite making no public suggestions that he is interested in the position.

“Although Budanov has never announced plans to pursue a political career, he is regularly featured in opinion polls and ranks among the top presidential contenders, behind only Zelensky and Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.K. Valerii Zaluzhny,” the Kyiv Independent noted on Friday. “According to a recent poll conducted by Socis, Budanov would secure 5.7% in the first round. In a hypothetical runoff between Zelensky and Budanov, the latter one would defeat Zelensky with 56% of the vote against 44%.”

There is another benefit to this move for Zelensky. Bringing Budanov into his administration adds layers of complication should the new chief of staff decide to challenge Ukraine’s president in a future election.

Zelensky named Lt. Gen. Oleg Ivashchenko to replace Budanov. Ivashchenko most recently headed the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SVR).

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On the battlefield, Ukraine is continuing to hold onto parts of the embattled city of Pokrovsk despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proclamation last month of its capture. Though Russian troops broke into the city in late October after more than a year of bloody assaults.

Ukraine’s defense of portions of Pokrovsk has been aided by the recent delivery of the last 12 of 49 Abrams main battle tanks from Australia.

The Australian Abrams “entered the fight during a critical phase of the battle for Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces are conducting counterattacks to keep Russian troops south of the railway line and prevent them from breaking out, which would cut off withdrawal operations from Myrnohrad,” Euromaidan Press reported. 

The operation “was carefully structured, with Abrams tanks moving forward alongside infantry fighting vehicles, acting as both shield and hammer,” the publication added. “The primary task of the tanks was to suppress Russian firing points with their main cannons, draw enemy drone attention, and create corridors for the Ukrainian BMPs to advance.”

Under the Abrams’ cover, “the BMP’s pushed toward the outskirts of Pokrovsk, dismounted assault troops, and secured key positions that had previously been under heavy Russian pressure.”

The delivery of the last tranche of Australian Abrams came as Ukraine had already lost at least 23 of the 31 variants provided by the U.S., according to the Oryx open source tracking group. The losses are likely significantly higher because Oryx only provides information for which is has visual confirmation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has named spy chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new chief of staff, just over a month after his previous top aide resigned amid a corruption row.

“At this time, Ukraine needs greater focus on security issues,” Zelensky said in a post on social media, publishing a photo of his meeting with Budanov in Kyiv.

Budanov, 39, has until now led the Hur military intelligence, which has claimed a number of highly-effective strikes against Russia.

Zelensky also said he intended to replace his defence minister Denys Shmyhal, appointing his current minister of digital transformation Mykhaylo Fedorov to take up the post.

Budanov’s predecessor, Andriy Yermak, wielded enormous political influence throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in 2022. He also led Ukraine’s negotiating team in crucial talks with the US aimed at ending the war.

In Friday’s post on social media, Zelensky wrote: “At this time, Ukraine needs greater focus on security issues, the development of the defence and security forces of Ukraine, as well as on the diplomatic track of negotiations.

“Kyrylo has specialist experience in these areas and sufficient strength to deliver results.”

The president added that he had already instructed his new office chief to update and present key documents regarding “the strategic foundations” of Ukraine’s defence.

The chief of presidential staff in Ukraine is historically a very powerful position. There was a time in the 2000s when a presidential administration head in Ukraine wielded about as much power as the president himself.

Ostensibly administrative, the role traditionally offered not just close access to the head of state, but also plentiful opportunities to pull the strings of government.

For example, the chief of presidential staff could lobby for government appointments and apply pressure to business circles, often resulting in personal gain.

General Budanov’s appointment suggests an intention to overhaul the role. It puts the president’s office on a war footing – it will very likely be much more focused on security and the war with Russia.

Later on Friday, Zelensky announced other changes to his top team. He said Fedorov had been nominated to serve as his new defence minister because he had “decided to change the structure of the Ukrainian ministry of defence”.

Federov, aged 34, is the youngest minister in the Ukrainian government. His key achievement so far is the development and implementation of Diya, a centralised digital platform for government services.

He is “deeply involved with drones”, and will be tasked in particular with training more drone operators, Zelensky said in his evening address.

He added that Shmyhal remains “part of the team” and will be moved to another area of work.

Zelensky said Budanov was being replaced by 56-year-old foreign intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko.

Budanov’s predecessor, former chief of staff Yermak, 54, stepped down on 28 November, and his departure was seen as a major blow to Zelensky.

Yermak quit shortly after his home in Kyiv was raided by the country’s anti-corruption agencies.

He is not accused of any wrongdoing, and the anti-corruption bureau Nabu and specialised anti-corruption prosecutor’s office Sapo did not explain why they searched his property.

In the past few months investigators have linked several high-profile figures to an alleged $100m (£75m) embezzlement scandal in the energy sector.

They said they had uncovered an extensive scheme to take kickbacks and influence state-owned companies including state nuclear energy firm Enerhoatom.

The corruption scandal has rocked Ukraine, weakening Zelensky’s own position and jeopardising the country’s negotiating position at a delicate time.

Kyiv, backed by its European allies, is seeking to change the terms of a US-led draft peace plan originally seen as heavily slanted towards Russia.

Russian officials have seized on the scandal, talking up corruption claims.

Most things in this world have their good points and their not-so-good points, and this is certainly true of “The Copenhagen Test,” a science-fiction spy story about a man whose brain has been hacked. Without his knowing it, everything he sees and hears is uploaded to an unknown party, in an unknown place, as if he were a living pair of smart glasses. Created by Thomas Brandon and premiering Saturday on Peacock, its conceit is dramatically clever, if, of course, impossible. What do you watch when you learn that what you’re watching is being watched?

In a preamble, we meet our hero, Andrew Hale (Simu Liu, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), a first-generation Chinese American Green Beret, rescuing hostages in Belarus. A voice in his headset instructs him that there is enough room for one on a departing helicopter and that he must prioritize an American citizen. Instead he picks a foreign child. This, we will learn, is the less-preferred choice.

Three years later, Hale is working for the Orphanage, a shadowy American intelligence agency that spies on all the less-shadowy American intelligence agencies — watching the watchers. (So much watching!) Its proud boast is that, since its inception in the Bush I administration, it has never been compromised. (Until someone started looking through Hale’s eyes, that is.) There is a secret entrance to their giant complex, accessed by locking eyes with a statue in a library — it’s thematically appropriate, but also very “Get Smart!” That is a compliment, obviously.

The lower floor is where the analysts toil; entry to the upper floor, where the action is, is by the sort of fancy key that might have been used to open an executive washroom in 1895. (The decor is better there, too, with something of the air of an 1895 executive washroom.) Hale, who has been been listening to and translating Korean and Chinese chatter, dreams of moving upstairs, which will come with the discovery that his head is not entirely his own.

Meanwhile, he has been suffering migraines, seizures and panic attacks. Ex-fiancée Rachel (Hannah Cruz), a doctor, has been giving him pills under the table. Other characters of continuing interest include Michelle (Melissa Barrera), a bartender who will spy on Hale from the vantage point of a girlfriend, sort of; Parker (Sinclair Daniel), a newly promoted “predictive analyst” with a gift for reading people and situations; Victor (Saul Rubinek), an ex-spook who runs a high-end restaurant and has known Hale forever; Cobb (Mark O’Brien), a rivalrous colleague whose Ivy League persona has been drawn in contrast to Hale’s; and Cobb’s uncle, Schiff (Adam Godley), who also has spy knowledge. Peter Moira (Brian d’Arcy James) runs the shop, and St. George (Kathleen Chalfant) floats above Moira.

As parties unknown look through Hale’s eyes, the Orphanage is watching Hale with the usual access to the world’s security cameras. (That bit of movie spycraft always strikes me as far-fetched; however, a conversation in the privacy of my kitchen will somehow translate into ads on my social feeds, so, who knows?) “The Copenhagen Test” isn’t selling a surveillance state metaphor, in any case; this is just one of those “Who Can You Trust?” stories, one that keeps flipping characters to keep the show going, somewhat past the point of profitability.

Like most eight-hour dramas, it’s too long — “Slow Horses,” the best of this breed, sticks to six — and over the course of the show, things grow muddied with MacGuffins and subplots. While it’s easy enough to enjoy what’s happening in the moment, it can be easy to lose the plot and harder to tell just who’s on what side, or even how many sides there are. (It doesn’t help that nearly everyone is ready to kill Hale.) I can’t go into details without crossing the dreaded spoiler line, but even accepting the impossible tech, much of “The Copenhagen Test” makes little practical sense, including the eponymous test. (Why “Copenhagen?” Det ved jeg ikke. Danish for “I don’t know.”) I spent so much time untwisting knots and keeping threads straight that, though I continued to root in a detached way for Hale, I ceased to care entirely about the fate of the Orphanage and the supposedly free world.

The show is well cast. While the characters on paper are pretty much types, each actor projects the essence of the part, adding enough extra personality to suggest a real person. (And they’re all nice to look at.) When not keeling over from pain, or engaged in a shootout or hand-to-hand combat, Liu is an even-keeled, quiet sort of protagonist — rather in the Keanu Reeves vein — and as a Chinese Canadian actor, still a novelty among American television action heroes. He does have a kind of chemistry with Barrera, who has screen chemistry all on her own, though it’s somewhat limited by the demands of the plot.

The ending, including a diminished-chord twist, is pretty pat, if happier than one might imagine given the ruckus that’s gone before. Neat bows are tied — though at least one has been left loose in hopes, according to my own predictive analysis, of a second season. And though releasing a series in the last week of the year doesn’t exactly betoken confidence, I can predict with some confidence that there might be one.