Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal is getting a very 21st-century makeover, in a 10-part TV drama which begins next week. It stars Eddie Redmayne as a hitman whose target is a tech tycoon, allegedly based on Elon Musk. The novel was inspired by Forsyth’s time at the news agency Reuters in Paris, where he covered numerous attempts on Charles de Gaulle’s life—including one involving exploding flower vases by the OAS, Right-wing paramilitaries opposed to Algerian independence. He thought the OAS too riddled with informers to pull off such an assassination. Moreover, the French counter-intelligence services were the best in the world. But what if the terrorists brought in a highly-skilled outsider? The new television drama will whisk back those of us who devoured the book and loved the film. Early reports are mixed. Some say the series is brilliant, others that it’s a bore. Either way, Forsyth’s 35 days on a battle-scarred typewriter could not have been better spent. —Brian Viner