It's been a whopping seven years since we last met Tom Hiddleston's Jonathan Pine, AKA the Night Manager, in the BBC's adaptation of John le Carré's 1993 novel.

Advertisement

The spy thriller series was a huge hit with viewers when it first debuted, immediately leading to questions as to whether a second season could be on the way, despite there not being a follow-up book.

For a long time rumours percolated, then eventually things went silent. However, we have recently had some positive news suggesting a second season could be in the works after all. But what form would it take, who would be back to star and when would it debut?

Read on for everything you need to know about The Night Manager season 2.

Will there be a second season of The Night Manager?

The cast of The Night Manager.
The cast of The Night Manager. BBC/The Ink Factory/Mitch Jenkins

It seems that there will. Nothing has been confirmed by the BBC yet, but in February 2023 Deadline reported that a second season is in development as a co-production between the BBC and Prime Video, meaning it would air exclusively on the BBC in the UK and on Prime Video internationally. The first season was also a co-production, between the BBC and AMC.

More like this

The new season will reportedly once again be written by David Farr (The Midwich Cuckoos), and is set to film later in 2023 in London and South America. Deadline also suggested it could be the first of a two-season order, meaning we could see a third season of The Night Manager as well.

This report followed previous rumours that a second season was in development, which have circulated ever since the first instalment debuted in 2016.

Back in 2017, season 1 director Susanne Bier told Broadcast that a follow-up was "slowly being developed" and that the script was currently being written by a "team of writers".

"We all want very much to do a season 2 but the thing we absolutely do not want is to do something that does not live up to the level of season 1," she said. "That would be a really bad idea."

In the days after that article was published, there was an attempt to calm things down and quell the media excitement. A statement was released saying: "The Ink Factory, BBC and AMC are in the early stages of developing a potential second series of The Night Manager, but nothing is definite yet and we have nothing to announce."

Speaking in an interview with RadioTimes.com about her Netflix film Bird Box, Bier later explained that she was no longer attached to the project, saying: "I'm not doing Night Manager 2. I wasn't sure that I would do my very best work the second time round – so I decided that I should probably not do it and have somebody [else direct it].

"I just got worried that I would repeat myself or do something which wasn't as great, but I think somebody else is going to do an amazing job out of it."

Meanwhile, executive producer Stephen Garrett told Deadline: "There’s not even a script. There’s just conversations and thoughts… It’s not ruled out and it’s not ruled in. It’s entirely possible and we’d love to do it.
"The official position, which is also the truth — I know that’s unusual but there you go — is that we’re thinking about it; we’re doing a kind of feasibility study."

Producer Simon Cornwell also expressed a desire to do a second season, explaining at a Royal Television Society event: "I think in a lot of ways we would love to do another series, it would be very exciting. We wouldn't do something that we didn't feel had a fighting chance of being even better than the first one. We might not succeed, but I think if you don't go in with ambition, there's actually no point in doing it."

In 2019, Hiddleston then said of a potential second season: "At the moment [the show] is in the lap of John le Carré and his sons who run The Ink Factory, the production company which produces it. They are potentially conceiving how these characters might live on: what they’re doing now given the state of the world. Which is curious given that the world is in an ‘interesting’ place, shall we say.

"What’s Jonathan Pine doing? Where is he? He’s probably in a dark corner somewhere spying on someone. What shape or form might that take? I’m very curious to see what materialises, and that’s about as much as I can say."

We will keep this page updated if and when we get firm confirmation that a second season is on the way.

When would The Night Manager season 2 be released?

Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Debicki in The Night Manager
Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan and Elizabeth Debicki as Jed in The Night Manager. BBC/AMC

It is not yet clear when The Night Manager season 2, if it comes to fruition, would be released. However, Deadline reported that the season would be filming later in 2023, meaning a 2024 release date seems likely.

We will keep this page updated once we have a clearer idea of when The Night Manager season 2 could arrive on our screens.

The Night Manager cast — who would be back for season 2?

The cast of The Night Manager season 1
The cast of The Night Manager season 1. BBC/The Ink Factory/Mitch Jenkins/Matt Burlem

So far, we currently only know of one star who is meant to be returning for The Night Manager season 2: Tom Hiddleston.

He will reportedly be back as his character Jonathan Pine, who in the new season will be seen facing up to a new deadly challenge after being informed that Hugh Laurie's character, arms dealer Richard Roper, is dead.

This would mean it seems unlikely that Hugh Laurie will be back as Roper, unless he is appearing in a cameo capacity.

Tom Hollander is also unlikely to return, after his character 'Corky' met his end at the hands of Pine in season 1. However, there could potentially be returns for Elizabeth Debicki and Olivia Colman, both of whose characters made it out of season 1 alive.

We'll keep this page updated once we have a clearer idea of the cast for season 2.

Is there a trailer for The Night Manager season 2?

There isn't a trailer for The Night Manager season 2, but you can re-watch the trailer for season 1 right here, now.

The Night Manager season 1 is available to stream on Prime Video - sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime Video and pay £8.99 a month after that.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

Advertisement

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement