Return of The Night Manager
Hiddleston back as hit is revived
THE biggest TV drama of 2016, The Night Manager, is set to return for two more series on BBC1.
Movie star Tom Hiddleston will once again play the lead role of Jonathan Pine.
More than 10 million viewers tuned in to see the former soldier battle with Hugh Laurie as arms dealer Richard Roper in a series that won 11 major awards.
The second series will be filmed this summer and air in 2025.
The third season is set to go out the following year.
The action will be set eight years after the last series ended with Roper being taken away by the Syrians, seemingly facing certain death.
Hugh is listed as an executive producer but it is still not clear whether Roper survived.
It is also not known if Olivia Colman will return as Foreign Office taskforce boss Angela Burr, or Elizabeth Debicki as Roper’s bullied girlfriend Jed Marshall.
Tom said of the show, which is based on acclaimed espionage author John Le Carre’s 1993 novel: “The first series of The Night Manager was one of the most creatively fulfilling projects I have ever worked on. The depth, range and complexity of Jonathan Pine was, and remains, a thrilling prospect. I’m so looking forward to telling the next chapter of our story.”
The next two series will again be made by The Ink Factory, run by le Carre’s sons Stephen and Simon Cornwell.
They will involve many of the original show’s team including writer David Farr and producer Stephen Garrett.
David said: “John le Carre’s work has long been an inspiration to me and working closely with him on season one was an honour and a pleasure. I did not tread lightly into extending The Night Manager beyond the original book, but an idea came to me a couple of years ago which felt truthful to that unique world of dark corners and shady identities.” He added of le Carre, who died in 2020: “I hope that in some way we can pay homage to his uneasy genius.”
BBC content boss Charlotte Moore said: “The scale and ambition behind the new season will take it to even greater heights.”