{"id":49454,"date":"2024-04-12T14:02:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T12:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2024209"},"modified":"2024-04-12T14:57:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T12:57:37","slug":"the-night-manager-will-need-to-prove-itself-all-over-again","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/the-night-manager-will-need-to-prove-itself-all-over-again\/","title":{"rendered":"The Night Manager will need to prove itself all over again"},"content":{"rendered":"

The original 2016 series was superb, but a follow-up has several hurdles to overcome if it hopes to match its success. <\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 12 April 2024 at 12:02 PM<\/p>

\n\n

For the longest time, a sequel to 2016\u2019s award-winning The Night Manager<\/a> felt like a pipe dream \u2013 in the immediate aftermath of the show\u2019s broadcast, star Tom Hiddleston even went so far as to say that the story was \u201ccomplete\u201d, a sentiment echoed at the time by his co-star Hugh Laurie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s based on a novel, we\u2019ve got to the end of the novel and John le Carr\u00e9 has yet to write another novel,\u201d said Laurie, also an executive producer on the adaptation. \u201cSo in cold practical terms, no, we\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were glimmers of hope, though, in the years that followed \u2013 in 2017, the BBC and AMC, along with producer The Ink Factory, released a statement confirming they were \u201cin the early stages of developing a potential second series of The Night Manager\u201d and while the original\u2019s director Susanne Bier and writer David Farr were both reported not to be returning, in 2018 we heard news that writers Namsi Khan (True Detective<\/a>) and Francesca Gardiner (His Dark Materials) would join spy novelist Charles Cumming and British screenwriter Matthew Orton to pen a second season.<\/p>\n

But then, for several years, all was quiet and hopes of a follow-up dwindled\u2026\u00a0until, in early 2023, Deadline<\/a> reported that the BBC would be teaming with a new partner, Prime Video, for new episodes of The Night Manager, with official confirmation of not one but two more seasons<\/a> coming again after a substantial wait almost a year later.<\/p>\n

The news set social media alight \u2013 and it\u2019s no wonder given the rapturous reaction that the original series, which saw Hiddleston\u2019s amateur spy Jonathan Pine infiltrate the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Roper (Laurie), received in 2016.<\/p>\n

Scoring audiences of over 10 million on BBC One, The Night Manager was billed as a \u201cmasterpiece\u201d by Rolling Stone<\/a>, with the New York Post<\/a> commending its \u201cbreathless suspense\u201d and The Guardian<\/a> singling out Hiddleston\u2019s \u201cperfect\u201d performance. Before long, the awards began rolling in, with nominations and wins across the Emmys, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and more.<\/p>\n