BBC filming for “The Little Drummer Girl” wraps up at Sounion temple near Athens

Crews filming a part of the BBC’s production “The Little Drummer Girl” at the ancient temple of Poseidon in Sounion, south of Athens, wrapped up their work on Thursday, ANA reports.

At Sounion on Thursday, the film crews set up at 7:00 a.m. and concluded filming by 1:00 p.m.. The the site remained open to tourists throughout the day (it stays open until sundown).

The miniseries will be seen in 80 countries, reaching millions of viewers, even though Greece’s Central Archeaological Council (KAS) originally rejected a 12-hour shoot at the site, saying it would keep that day’s visitors away.

Government officials intervened pointing out that the free publicity from the majestic site could draw untold numbers of tourists to the country and the board overturned its own ruling under pressure.

Yet, the shooting for an adaption of John Le Carre’s spy thriller The Little Drummer Girl was cut to only six hours, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The government’s General Secretary for Information and Communication, Lefteris Kretsos, was at Sounio early as filming got underway, noted Kathimerini newspaper. “An industry is slowly opening up,” he said. “There is good news. I hope to have more,” he said, adding that “Greece can play a leading role in this area.”

The new production of the high-paced thriller marks the television debut of visionary filmmaker Park Chan-wook, acclaimed for his work Old Boy and other films in South Korea, which has drawn acclaims for the quality of its film and TV series. The Greek production company Faliro House is also involved.

The six-part series stars Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgard as the young actress holidaying in Greece and the Israeli secret agent who recruits her for a deadly covert mission.