The Night Manager season 3 release date speculation and latest news
The Night Manager has had its Empire Strikes Back moment – but can Pine's return restore hope?
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Night Manager season 2
Breath a sigh of relief that The Night Manager is returning for a third season on BBC One and iPlayer, because it is desperately needed after that harrowing season 2 finale.
The belated sequel brought Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) back into undercover work, where he had an unwelcome reunion with old enemy Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), who he'd long thought to be dead.
Some discerning viewers sniffed out Laurie's secret return to the role before its reveal in episode 3, but others were shell-shocked by the revelation (as was the intended effect).
Director Georgi Banks-Davies told RadioTimes.com that the team "tried really hard" to ensure the plot twist had a big impact, including during production, when the actor's presence on had to be kept under wraps.
"Somehow we just got away with it," added Farr. "It was just a remarkable effort and it was fun! And Hugh really played the game chivalrously. He had to just completely disappear."
After the season 2 ending saw Roper ascend once more, it's safe to assume that he'll be at the very centre of The Night Manager's third entry from the start. Here's what we know so far about the next chapter.
The Night Manager season 3 release date speculation
The Night Manager season 3 does not yet have a confirmed release date, but it is definitely on the way – and won't take as long as the second did to arrive!
The BBC and its co-producer Prime Video ordered seasons 2 and 3 at the same time, freeing screenwriter David Farr to pen that devastating cliffhanger ending, safe in the knowledge that he would have a chance to resolve it later.
And fortunately, there won't be another decade-long hiatus to endure.
In an interview with RadioTimes.com, Farr assured viewers that "we're not going to have this whopping gap again" between seasons, meaning that "events will follow on" more directly in the third season.
Still, given that scripts are still to be completed and its production is international in scope, we'd estimate that The Night Manager season 3 could still be two years away, which would point to a late 2027/early 2028 launch window.
The Night Manager season 3 cast speculation: Who could return?
The Night Manager season 3 will see the return of Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie as bitter arch-enemies Jonathan Pine and Richard Roper.
In an interview with RadioTimes.com, director Georgi Banks-Davies reiterated that The Night Manager is a show about those "great adversaries" and that's the "whole crux" of it, so viewers shouldn't expect a new foe to come along.
It seems likely that season 3 will also see more from Hayley Squires as Pine's ally Sally Price-Jones, Indira Varma as villainous MI6 boss Mayra Cavendish, and Noah Jupe as Roper's son and heir, Danny.
A question mark hovers over Camila Morrone's icy survivor Roxana Bolaños, with Farr suggesting that he's yet to decide whether the character's story ends in her season 2 betrayal of Pine and Teddy.
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"I absolutely love her final scene with [Roper], where he realises that he's sort of met his match; that she is as tough and as ruthless in her view of the world as he is, and he sort of lets her go," he shared.
"Nothing's for certain, of course, but it feels like she's reached a very interesting point... She is a survivor, and that's a very satisfying resolution for her. I can't say at the moment whether it feels that there's more to come out of that."
We can be more certain that we've seen the last of Olivia Colman as Angela Burr, Diego Calva as Teddy Dos Santos and Paul Chahidi as Basil Karapetian, none of which made it to the end of season 2 alive.
Here's an overview of likely The Night Manager season 3 cast members:
- Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine
- Hugh Laurie as Richard 'Dickie' Onslow Roper
- Noah Jupe as Danny Roper
- Michael Nardone as Frisky
- Alistair Petrie as Alexander 'Sandy' Langbourne
- Indira Varma as Mayra Cavendish
The Night Manager season 3 plot speculation: What could happen next?
The Night Manager season 3 will pick up the pieces from that shocking finale, which saw Roper succeed in his plot to destabilise Colombia and restore his own personal fortune.
In addition to hundreds of innocent Colombian civilians, the scheme cost the lives of Roper's own son, Teddy, and his long-standing rival Angela Burr, with all those losses to be sorely felt by Jonathan Pine.
The sole source of comfort for fans will be the prospect of retribution by Pine, once he's had a chance to recover from the initial shock of being outmanoeuvred by the cunning arms dealer.
On Burr's fate, Farr told RadioTimes.com: "Who literally pulled the trigger, I think, is irrelevant. We're in a world of hired killers here. Nobody goes and does the job themselves, let's be completely clear about that. That's not interesting.
"But the choices behind it and the reasons behind it... Those absolutely count. So her death will absolutely figure very strongly as an ignition point for the next season, because we're going to follow on quicker this time. There will be consequences."
Pine will have to rally against not just Roper himself, but his accomplice Mayra Cavendish, who ordered the murders of Rex Mayhew (Douglas Hodge), Basil Karapetian, and quite possibly Angela too.
Addressing the emerging enemy, Farr said that Mayra has been "a little in reserve" throughout season 2, due to how busy the story was, but assured that the next chapter will delve deeper into "what really drives her".
He added: "I think you've got some indications – ambition and patriotism, I think, are both clearly present in what she's about. But I think there's much more to come from her."
Is there a trailer for The Night Manager season 3?
There's no footage to share from The Night Manager season 3 just yet. We'll update this page when that changes.
The Night Manager seasons 1-2 are available on BBC 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.
