After a decade-long hiatus, the critically acclaimed espionage drama The Night Manager is set for a spectacular return to BBC One in 2026, with Tom Hiddleston once again leading the cast as the enigmatic Jonathan Pine. The new series promises higher stakes, globe-trotting action, and a sexually fluid power throuple that is already generating headlines.
A Decade-Long Dream Becomes Reality
The journey to a second season began in an unlikely place: a dream. Screenwriter David Farr, who adapted John le Carré's novel for the first series, revealed that the idea came to him vividly one night. "A vivid image came to me in bed," Farr explains. "I saw a boy in a Colombian monastery, waiting for a black car. I knew who those characters were." He immediately wrote down the concept, which became the foundation for the new storyline.
Farr had initially been hesitant to create a sequel without source material, despite the show's massive success. The 2016 series, which also starred Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman, was a global hit, selling to 180 countries and winning multiple Golden Globes. However, the late author John le Carré had given his blessing for further stories before his death in 2020, which Farr and Hiddleston found crucial for moving forward.
An Older, Wiser, and More Dangerous Pine
The new series picks up ten years later, with Jonathan Pine now the director of MI6's covert "Night Owls" surveillance unit. "The errant knight, on fire with moral fury, would need to stay in active service," Hiddleston says of his character's evolution. "Once he'd seen behind the curtain, there would be no going back."
Pine's quiet life is upended when he spots a former associate of arms dealer Richard Roper, now working for South American cartels. This leads him to Colombian arms dealer Teddy Dos Santos, played by Diego Calva, who uses a charitable foundation as a front—a tactic chillingly reminiscent of Roper. Teaming up with the savvy and independent businesswoman Roxana Bolaños (Camila Morrone), Pine infiltrates Dos Santos's world, uncovering a web of corruption that may reach into the highest levels of British intelligence.
"He's vowed that the havoc he wreaked in people's lives isn't going to happen again," Farr says of Pine. "But for Pine, that's a half-life. When he unleashes that suppressed side of himself, it's explosive."
A Globe-Trotting, Steamy Affair
With a budget reportedly matching the first series's £20 million and co-production from Prime Video, the new season is an epic, location-hopping adventure. The opening episodes alone traverse Egypt, Barcelona, Miami, and Medellín. "We're more Bourne than Mission: Impossible or Bond," Farr notes, "more human than superhero, but there are spectacular sequences."
The series also introduces a complex and steamy romantic triangle between Pine, Teddy Dos Santos, and Roxana Bolaños. "The intelligence world has always been a sexually fluid place," Farr states, referencing Le Carré's earlier work. "I'd argue that in the first series, Pine and Roper's relationship was slightly homoerotic. I wanted to explore the new sexual fluidity."
Camila Morrone describes her character Roxana as a fresh take on the female lead in espionage. "She's a hustler, smarter than the men give her credit for... She loves the game in the same way these men do." Of the dynamic between the three, she says, "It's a complicated throuple. A power game in which they're all on top at different times." The actors grew so close they have a WhatsApp group named "Mi Amigos," which Morrone jokingly calls "your dream throuple."
Familiar Faces and New Dynamics
Olivia Colman returns as former handler Angela Burr, with Hiddleston relishing their reunion. "Working with Olivia again was a joy," he says. Newcomer Hayley Squires joins as Sally, Pine's street-smart sidekick who provides a dose of down-to-earth British humour. "Me and Tom are an unusual pairing," Squires admits, "but it works." She did, however, note one unexpected challenge: "I underestimated the amount of running I'd have to do."
Farr believes the decade-long gap between series allowed for a richer story, reflecting global changes in geopolitics, populism, and the arms trade. "Since Iraq, everyone is wise to the fact that war makes money for certain people," he says, drawing parallels to contemporary conflicts. The Colombian setting also brings the story full circle to the novel's original Central American roots.
The Night Manager returns to BBC One on New Year's Day at 9.05pm, promising a thrilling chase of seduction, betrayal, and high-stakes espionage for a new era.
