The Night Manager Drama: House Star Reportedly Became a Nightmare — All Over One Coveted Role
With The Night Manager season 2 days away, creator David Farr lifted the curtain at London’s Blackheath Concert Halls, revealing House star Hugh Laurie could be a challenge to work with behind the scenes.
The Night Manager is finally back on the board, and the show is not easing into it. We got some spicy behind-the-scenes stories, Tom Hiddleston reflecting on jumping back in after a decade, and a trailer that suggests Season 2 is going harder, darker, and bigger.
The Hugh Laurie wrinkle
Creator David Farr recently told a London crowd at Blackheath Concert Halls that Hugh Laurie was, well, a handful when they were putting the first season together (he was speaking about the early days ahead of Season 2, via Daily Mail). Laurie loved John le Carre's book so much that, years before the show existed, he tried to option it himself to play Jonathan Pine. Fast forward to 2016: Farr writes the first episode, everyone loves it, and Tom Hiddleston signs on as Pine. That is when Laurie got very invested — but mostly in Pine.
According to Farr, Laurie kept sending notes about Tom Hiddleston's character rather than his own role as Richard Roper. Farr finally hit a wall and, by his own telling, reached a point of exasperation.
"Give me a break."
To be clear: Farr says they are good now. But if you were hoping for a big Roper return, temper it. Laurie is only in Season 2 briefly, and just in a flashback.
Hiddleston on returning as Pine: older, scarred, and leaning in
At the Season 2 premiere in London at Southbank (via The Hollywood Reporter), Tom Hiddleston said he wanted to bring the ten-year gap into Pine's bones. He is not trying to reset to 2016 — he is letting life show.
"I am 10 years older, [I have got] a few more scars on the inside, a few more scars on the outside. I love the fact that I feel I have lived more life, and I encouraged everyone I came into contact with to lean into that... I want it to be more courageous, actually, [and] about investigating the soul of this man."
What Season 2 actually does
Season 2 is not a victory lap. The trailer plants Pine in a low-profile surveillance job inside MI6's Night Owl Unit in London, going by the alias Alex Goodwin. Then a run-in with a former mercenary yanks him into another undercover mission — this time targeting a new arms pipeline run by a onetime Roper mercenary: Teddy Dos Santos, a Colombian arms dealer played by Diego Calva.
This is not a remix of the Roper takedown. Pine and Roxana Bolaños (Camila Morrone) infiltrate Dos Santos's operation while the series ramps the stakes to a national scale. Betrayals pile up, alliances slide around, and the moral ground gets swampy. One moment in the trailer makes it clear that old loyalties are fraying fast.
"You lied to me."
That line is aimed at Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), which tells you exactly how tense things get.
Who is in, who is back, and who is new
Hiddleston is back as Jonathan Pine. Olivia Colman returns as Angela Burr. Some familiar faces from Season 1 are back in the mix, though as noted, Hugh Laurie is limited to a flashback. New additions include Indira Varma, Paul Chahidi, and Hayley Squires.
About that source material
Season 2 is an original story. John le Carre never wrote a follow-up novel. He did, however, reportedly dream up an idea for a second part the night before he died in 2020 (per The Independent). So the show is building forward from his world rather than adapting a sequel page for page.
When and where to watch
The Night Manager Season 2 premieres January 11, 2026 on Prime Video, and streams on BBC and BBC iPlayer in the UK.
Quick refresher
- Type: British spy thriller TV series adapted from John le Carre's 1993 novel
- Developed for television by: David Farr
- Director (Season 1): Susanne Bier
- Main cast (Season 1): Tom Hiddleston (Jonathan Pine), Hugh Laurie (Richard Roper), Olivia Colman (Angela Burr), Tom Hollander (Corkoran 'Corky'), Elizabeth Debicki (Jed Marshall)
- Premise: A former British soldier working as a luxury hotel night manager is recruited by intelligence to infiltrate an international arms dealer's inner circle
- Debut: 2016; it became a global hit out of the gate
- Awards: 2 Emmys, 2 BAFTAs, 3 Golden Globes