After 10 Years Off Screen, This Fan-Favourite Drama Returns with a Story No One’s Read

The first three episodes of the British spy drama The Night Manager season two have arrived on Amazon Prime Video this week, with a new take on the critically acclaimed first series, based on the classic novel by John le Carré.

The Night Manager was a smash hit when the last series first aired in early 2016, scoring two Emmy Awards and cleaning up at the Golden Globe Awards, with Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and Olivia Colman all bringing home the gold at the 2017 ceremony.

Now, ten years on, the espionage drama is back with a bang, and there are some talented new recruits, namely Golden Globe nominee Diego Calva (Babylon) and Emmy nominee Camilla Morrone (Daisy Jones & The Six).

While there is no official sequel novel to 1993's The Night Manager (although it is referenced in le Carré's later works), Simon Cornwell, the son of the late author, shared ideas noted by his father for a follow-up with the show's writers. Cornwell served as Executive Producer on the first season of the show, even securing a brief cameo from the author, as well as the new season, following his father's death in 2020. However, the showrunners ultimately went in another, original direction for the second series.

'The Night Manager' season 2 is nothing you've read before

"[John le Carré] shared a note [around the time of season 1] with the first ideas for a second season, which are ideas we've moved a long way on from and have nothing to do with the show we’ve ended up making," Cornwell revealed, according to Radio Times.

"But that opened the door and gave us permission to start thinking about how we do a second season."

Instead, a new idea was born, in which Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston) goes undercover as brazen, alcoholic financier Matthew Goodwin, in order to win the inner circle approval of notorious Colombian arms dealer, Teddy Dos Santos (Calva).

"David [Farr, series showrunner] has exceeded in internalising, not just the language of le Carré, but the deep engagement with the characters, with morality, and with the big questions that we're surrounded with in life, along with the ability to tell a really gripping story," Cornwell says.

The first three episodes of The Night Manager Season 2 are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video for viewers in the United States. New episodes will be released once a week every Sunday, until the season finale on February 1.