[1] In November 2017, following the success of The Night Manager, The Ink Factory, BBC One, and AMC announced they were reuniting for a 6-part co-production of Le Carré's Little Drummer Girl.

I made up my mind that, if I tackled this kind of project again, it would have to be something worth giving up a theater release.”[20] In March 2019, a Director’s Cut version of the series was uploaded on Korean streaming platform Watcha Play.

Several changes were made to bring the series more into line with Park's vision, including reversals to content restrictions imposed by international networks and fixing scenes where editing had been rushed.

The critics' consensus reads "The Little Drummer Girl marches to a steady beat of assured plotting, extraordinary art direction, and a uniformly terrific cast that makes the show's smolderingly slow burn pace bearable.

[35] Alan Sepinwell of Rolling Stone awarded The Little Drummer Girl 3.5 out of four stars, praising the acting and lush presentation but criticizing what he regarded as the show's "convoluted" story.

[36] Judy Berman, reviewing for TIME, praised the TV series for its suspense, exploring moral dilemmas and the legacy of British foreign policy in the Middle East, and for having nuanced characters on both sides.

He also praised Florence Pugh, Alexander Skarsgård, and Michael Shannon's performances as the main protagonists Charlie Ross, Gadi Becker, and Martin Kurtz.

"[39] Jesse Schedeen of IGN awarded the series 8.2 out of 10, praising Pugh's "mesmerizing" performance and Park Chan-Wook's strong directorial vision for overcoming its storytelling flaws.