The Night Manager (miniseries)

The Night Manager
series title over the top of a glass
Genre Drama
Espionage
Written by John le Carré
Screenplay by David Farr
Directed by Susanne Bier
Starring
Music by Victor Reyes
Country of origin United Kingdom
United States
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 6
Production
Producer(s) Rob Bullock
Cinematography Michael Snyman
Running time 58 minutes
Production company(s) The Ink Factory
BBC
AMC
Distributor IMG
Release
Original network BBC One (UK)
AMC (US)
Picture format 16:9 1080i
Audio format Stereo
First shown in United Kingdom
Original release 21 February (2016-02-21) – 27 March 2016 (2016-03-27)
External links
BBC website
AMC website

The Night Manager is a British-American television miniseries directed by Susanne Bier and starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, David Harewood, Tom Hollander and Elizabeth Debicki. It is based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carré and adapted by David Farr to the present day.[1][2][3] The six-part serial began broadcasting on BBC One on 21 February 2016. In the United States, it began on 19 April 2016 on AMC. IMG sold the series internationally to over 180 countries.

Summary

Former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is recruited by Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), an intelligence operative. He is tasked to navigate Whitehall and Washington, D.C. where there is an alliance between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. He must infiltrate the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Hugh Laurie), Roper's girlfriend Jed (Elizabeth Debicki), and associate Corkoran (Tom Hollander).

Differences from the novel

Cast

Main Cast[4]


Guest and Recurring Cast



Production

In January 2015 it was announced that the serial would be co-produced by the BBC, AMC and The Ink Factory.[1] Filming began in spring 2015 in London.[5]

Location filming took place in Hartland, Devon; Mallorca, Spain; Marrakesh, Morocco; and Zermatt, Switzerland.

Broadcast

Episode 1 of The Night Manager was broadcast on 21 February 2016 on BBC One in the United Kingdom.[4] AMC Spain broadcast the first episode on 24 February 2016 AMC 'El Infiltrado' Website. TV3 in New Zealand broadcast the first episode on 28 February 2016.[6] In the United States, the show premiered on 19 April 2016 on AMC.[7] The series was scheduled to air in Australia on BBC First on 20 March 2016.[8]

The author John le Carré made an appearance in Episode 4.[9]

Episodes
No. Title Original air date UK viewers
(millions) [10][A]
1"Episode 1"21 February 201610.18
During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Jonathan Pine works as night manager of the Nefertiti Hotel. He becomes involved with Sophie Alekan, the mistress of Freddie Hamid whose family owns most of Cairo. Sophie gives Jonathan an envelope of confidential documents she wants copied. Inside, he finds a list of weapons and warfare chemicals, and correspondence between the Hamids' companies and Ironlast Limited. Jonathan turns the documents over to the International Enforcement Agency in London, resulting in Sophie's death. Five years later, intelligence officer Angela Burr contacts him to help investigate Ironlast CEO Richard Roper. When Jonathan balks, she cites Pine's two tours of duty during the Iraq War and his witnessing what harm chemical weapons can inflict, as well as Sophie's murder.
2"Episode 2"28 February 201610.19
Jonathan agrees to work with Angela, upon her promise of a new identity for him afterwards, and is given non-official covers, Jack Linden and, later, Thomas Quince. As Linden, Jonathan spends time in Devon establishing a violent cover identity. Later, Angela sends him to Spain, where Roper is to meet for an operation called "Limpet". In Majorca, Roper's son Daniel is abducted and taken to a location where Jonathan, as Quince, is hiding. Quince frees Daniel, but not before a covert abductor beats Quince, who is taken back to Roper's villa. Roper believes he is "Pine from Switzerland" and wants to call the police, but Jonathan insists that he shouldn't. Corky, Roper's henchman, confronts Jonathan about his criminal past and multiple identities, and Roper says he will soon learn who the wounded man is. In London, Angela begins to learn what she can about Operation Limpet.
3"Episode 3"6 March 20169.74
In Madrid, Roper's lawyer Juan "Apo" Apostol hosts a birthday party for his daughter, Elena, which Roper and his entourage attend. Elena is soon found hanged to death. Back at his villa, Roper questions Jonathan about his criminal past. Jonathan shares his crafted backstory, of which Roper has a dossier to match. Jonathan states that he is leaving, but Roper says his Quince cover is blown. He will have to stay and concoct another. In Madrid, Angela finds a grieving Apo and attempts to gain his trust. Later with Daniel, Jonathan learns of Roper's secret study and its hidden key. Daniel also discloses that an alarm test is done once daily. Jonathan finds the key and, during the test in the study, documents on Tradepass, Roper's agricultural equipment company which is a front. The next day, Roper presents Jonathan with a passport under the name Andrew Birch. However, Jonathan must do something for him in exchange. Roper gives him Corky's former job of control of Tradepass. Jonathan accepts his new name and role.
4"Episode 4"13 March 20169.61
5"Episode 5"20 March 20169.67
6"Episode 6"27 March 20169.90

Critical reception

The series received critical acclaim, with The Sun calling it "one of the greatest series of all time".[11]

Adam Sisman, le Carré's biographer, wrote in UK daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph, "It is more than 20 years since the novel was published, and in that time two film companies have tried and failed to adapt it, concluding that it was impossible to compress into two hours. But this six-hour television adaptation is long enough to give the novel its due." He added, "And though Hugh Laurie may seem a surprising choice to play 'the worst man in the world', he dominates the screen as a horribly convincing villain. Alert viewers may spot a familiar face in the background of one scene, in a restaurant: John le Carré himself makes a cameo, as he did in the films of A Most Wanted Man and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. But he is on screen only for an instant: blink and you'll miss him."[12]

Reviewing Episode 1 for The Guardian, Archie Bland began by noting, "The Night Manager is as sexed up as television drama comes. In Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie it has bona fide international stars; in John Le Carre's source novel it has a pedigree of untouchable grandeur. The palette is as sumptuous as one of our hero Jonathan Pine's beautiful hotels." He added, "It's Laurie's vulpine performance that gives The Night Manager its force once the smell of money has worn off. But we barely see him for the first 40 minutes – a delayed gratification trick that's always worked like magic on me, ever since we spent the whole first episode of The West Wing waiting impatiently to meet Josiah Bartlet." Turning to Hiddleston's performance, Bland wrote, "And as the embodiment of the show's atmosphere of paralysed establishment glamour, Hiddleston is the business. When the noble beast beneath that accommodating English exterior begins to make itself known, I do find the righteous revenge he's intent on wreaking on Roper compelling."[13]

Notes

A. ^ Based on twenty-eight day data.

References

  1. 1 2 Merrill Barr (January 2015). "AMC Will Air 'The Night Manager' Starring Hugh Laurie & Tom Hiddleston". Screen Rant. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Cynthia Littleton (30 October 2014). "AMC Nabs Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston 'The Night Manager'". Variety. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Denise Petski (5 March 2015). "Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander, Elizabeth Debicki Join AMC's 'The Night Manager'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 "BBC One: The Night Manager". BBC Online. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Arvin Donguines (14 January 2015). "'The Night Manager' Release Date, Latest News: BBC, The Ink Factory and AMC Announce Mini-Series". Christian Post. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  6. ↑ The Listener article (26 January 2016). "On TV, February 27 – March 4: including The Night Manager". The Listener Online. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  7. ↑ AMC press release (8 January 2016). "AMC Announces 2016 Spring Series Premieres and Releases First-Look Photos". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Foxtel Upfronts 2016: Local thrillers, Lifestyle & US Drama.". 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Brennan, Ailis (22 February 2016). "11 Things you need to know about The Night Manager". GQ Magazines. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Weekly top 30". Barb. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
  11. ↑ Kevin O'Sullivan (28 March 2016). "The Night Manager finale review: Beeb’s stunningly lavish production is to be admired at all costs". The Sun. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Sisman, Adam (19 February 2016). "The Night Manager: le Carré's 'unexpected miracle'". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  13. ↑ Bland, Archie (21 February 2016). "The Night Manager recap: episode one – as sexy and sumptuous as TV gets". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 21 February 2016.

External links

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