McManager!

A smouldering hero with 007 potential. Explosive violence, exotic locations and exquisite frocks. Yes, it can only be McMafia – but then le Carré fans are saying it’s all VERY The Night Manager. So, is the new kid in town a match for the old master? Find

THE BBC’s new big-budget drama explores the murky, cynical chicanery of international organised crime.

But McMafia has become embroiled in a tale of rivalry and intrigue itself – as viewers and critics have noted suspicious similarities between the labyrinthine thriller and the Corporation’s last big drama hit, The Night Manager.

Both shows feature a brooding anti-hero forced to question his loyalties when he becomes caught in a web of global deceit, and both have their share of beautiful women, exotic destinations and brutal killings.

And both thrillers even star actors tipped to be the next James Bond: James Norton as troubled banker Alex Godman in McMafia and Tom Hiddleston as hotelier-turned-soldier Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager.

Twitter users have called McMafia – which continues on BBC1 at 9pm tonight – both the ‘love child’ and ‘spiritual successor’ of the 2016 John le Carré adaptation. And we have dubbed it ‘McManager’ to acknowledge the similarities,

Any resemblances are particularly ironic given that McMafia gets its title from the way criminal empires are increasingly run with the uniformity of fast-food franchises, which always look the same wherever they are.

Here – in a spoiler-free showdown – we pit the programmes against each other to determine which is the rightful king of complex conspiracy thrillers.