Does Hugh Laurie appear in The Night Manager season 2?
The actor might have a larger role than we were led to believe.
The Night Manager season 2 is off to an explosive start on BBC One and iPlayer, giving viewers long-awaited details on the fate of Hugh Laurie's sinister arms dealer Richard Roper.
Given how season 1 ended, the highly memorable character had not been expected to play any major role in this sequel, with Laurie's continued involvement limited to strictly behind-the-camera duties.
However, the very first episode has already upended that notion with a fleeting appearance from the actor, which powerfully connects Jonathan Pine's new assignment to Roper's ugly legacy.
It raises the question of whether a more substantial flashback could follow down the line, giving Laurie another chance to inhabit this juicy role – for now, we can only speculate (and hope).
Read on for everything you need to know about Laurie's on-screen appearance in The Night Manager season 2, and a refresher of what exactly happened to his once-untouchable character at the end of the first chapter.
Does Hugh Laurie appear in The Night Manager season 2?
Yes, Hugh Laurie does appear in The Night Manager season 2 – albeit, only briefly.
The actor earned acclaim for his portrayal of Richard Roper in season 1 and remains attached to the series as an executive producer, so it makes sense that he'd agree to a short-yet-impactful cameo in this belated sequel.
The appearance centres around a grim reunion for Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) and Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) in Syria, where they have been summoned to identify the body of their late nemesis.
Years later, when Jonathan learns of a potential successor to Roper's criminal empire, he suffers an eerie flashback to that day, in which we get a closer look at Laurie's dishevelled character – with chilling archive audio from season 1 playing over the top.
At the time of writing this article, later episodes are still being kept tightly under wraps, so it's possible that more flashbacks of Roper could feature in season 2. We'll update this page with more details if that proves to be the case.
What happened to Richard Roper in The Night Manager?
The Night Manager season 2 confirms that Richard Roper met a grisly end at the hands of his former business partners, after Jonathan Pine sabotaged a major deal that lost them a fortune.
Working undercover for Burr's overlooked International Enforcement Agency, Pine assumed the identity of a career criminal to successfully gain Roper's trust, all in a high-risk bid to bring down his illegal arms dealing business.
By the end of the season, Roper had finally detected Pine's treachery, but by this point, the inside man and his handler, Angela Burr, were already a few steps ahead – and their plan ended in spectacular fashion.
At a handover in the desert, Roper presents truckloads of lethal weaponry to his buyers, which they had purchased for an eye-watering sum days earlier, paid to a shell company registered in Pine's name (before it was sullied).
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Little does he know, however, that Pine had leant on contacts in Cairo to rig the trucks with explosives, while also moving the enormous payment to another account beyond Roper's reach.
Therefore, when the weapons blew up before their eyes, the arms dealer had insufficient funds to offer recompense to his furious buyers; meanwhile, Angela Burr rescued his abused partner Jed (Elizabeth Debicki), who had been used as leverage.
Despite all these blows to his operation, Roper remained smugly convinced that he'd be able to worm his way out of this predicament. That is, until his police convoy was hijacked by his own militant buyers, which sent him into a hysterical panic.
The Night Manager season 2 confirms that these unhappy customers imprisoned Roper for four years, before finally executing him for his culpability in such a catastrophic failure. In Burr's eyes, justice was served.
The Night Manager season 2 is currently airing on BBC One and iPlayer.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
