Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie rule out a Night Manager series 2
Pair say that the story is complete and that the claims of a second run are inaccurate. But is there still hope?
Night Manager stars Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie have appeared to rule out a return of the hit BBC1 spy thriller.
Speaking in the US to promote the show, the pair appeared to quash claims that the Corporation is bringing the show back.
Hiddleston said that “the story is complete” and he will not be returning as undercover agent Jonathan Pine, according to the Sunday Mirror.
“As it stands, Pine exists for six hours in a mini series. The story feels complete. I know the rumours about it extending, but none of that is real.”
Fans may draw comfort from the cautionary words “as it stands”.
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However, Laurie, who played the dastardly Richard Roper in the drama, was also quoted as saying: “It’s based on a novel, we’ve got to the end of the novel and John le Carré has yet to write another novel, so in cold practical terms, no, we’re done.”
Their comments follow reports that producers had met with BBC bosses to discuss a follow-up.
As Laurie correctly states, author John Le Carré had not written a second novel but was reputedly in advanced talks with The Ink Factory, the production company run by two of his sons, for another series based on the characters featured in the drama which was adapted by theatre director David Farr. Le Carre's next published work is a memoir due to be published in the autumn.
Hiddleston’s Pine survived at the end of the six-part run while Laurie’s Roper was last seen being carried away by a group of shadowy Cairo gangsters and howling about his fate.
Le Carré approved of BBC’s £20 million adaptation of his 1993 novel, despite his initial surprise at a decision to change large chunks of the book – including the ending, the setting, and the gender of Olivia Colman’s spy character Burr.
The author, who plays a cameo role in the series, wrote: “A lesser being such as myself might reasonably have responded: why not write your own bloody novel? With all those changes, what’s left of mine? And the answer, surprisingly, is: a great deal is left, more than I dared hope.”
Speaking before the release of the first series, Simon Cornwell, the son of the author and executive producer of the programme, said he “would love to do more with the BBC; but I don’t want to tempt fate with telling you what we have in the works”.
Asked whether a second series was possible, he said: “It’s lovely idea but Le Carré has never allowed an adaptation that goes beyond the parameters of the original book. We’re not ruling it out, but we’re not ruling it in.”
The BBC had not commented at the time of publication.
