The BBC has confirmed that a second series of the award-winning drama The Night Manager is in development. Director Susanne Bier revealed to Broadcast magazine that the script is being 'slowly developed' for the follow-up to the critically acclaimed thriller.
The original series, which aired on BBC One last year, starred Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and Olivia Colman. It was a major hit, with all three stars winning Golden Globes and Bier taking home an Emmy Award. The show was based on John le Carre's 1993 novel, which does not have a sequel.
Bier stated, 'We all very much want to do a season two, but the thing we absolutely do not want is to do something that does not live up to the level of season one.' She made the comments at Keshet's INTV conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The finale of The Night Manager was watched by more than nine million people on the BBC last March. Hiddleston played Jonathan Pine, an undercover operative tasked with exposing billionaire arms dealer Richard Roper, played by Laurie. Hiddleston has previously expressed his willingness to return for a second series.
In related news, le Carre announced on Tuesday that his iconic spy George Smiley will return in a new novel, A Legacy of Spies, to be published in September. The BBC is also adapting le Carre's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, featuring Smiley, which is set to air next year.
