The Night Manager season 2: everything we know

Tom Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager season 2
Tom Hiddleston will return as Jonathan Pine (Image credit: BBC)

Work on The Night Manager season 2 has officially begun and we're very excited at the prospect of Tom Hiddleston returning to the world of espionage!

The first series of the show, which was based upon the novel of the same name by famous author John Le Carré, was one of the most successful dramas of the year when it aired on BBC One in 2016, winning a host of Primetime Emmys and Golden Globes. 

In April 2024 the BBC revealed the show would be renewed for TWO more seasons, with Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie - who played the villainous Richard Roper in season 1 - acting as executive producers. 

"The first series of The Night Manager was one of the most creatively fulfilling projects I have ever worked on," said Hiddleston in an official statement. "The depth, range and complexity of Jonathan Pine was, and remains, a thrilling prospect. I’m so looking forward to reuniting with the team to tell the next chapter of our story. I can’t wait."

After adapting Le Carré's bestselling novel last time out, David Farr says he will now be expanding the world the famous author created. 

"John le Carré's work has long been an inspiration to me and working closely with him on Season 1 was an honour and a pleasure," he says. "I did not tread lightly into extending The Night Manager beyond the original book, but an idea came to me a couple of years ago which felt truthful to that unique world of dark corners and shady identities. 

"No one marries the suspense of espionage with a deep exploration of the human soul quite like le Carré. I hope that in some way we can pay homage to his uneasy genius in this new exploration."

Here's everything we know about The Night Manager season 2...

The Night Manager season 2 release date

Filming is due to begin in South America and London in 2024, which means it will most likely be 2025 before we see this one on our screens. 

The Night Manager season 2 will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and, outside of the UK, globally on Prime Video.

If you want to catch up on The Night Manager season 1, you can stream it on the BBC iPlayer in the UK and Prime Video in the US. 

The Night Manager season 2: the original cast of the first season posing together

The first season was a ratings hit for BBC1 (Image credit: BBC)

The Night Manager season 2 plot 

The first season of The Night Manager followed Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), the titular night manager at a hotel in Cairo and former British soldier, who was drafted in by a member of a British Foreign Office task force who's been investigating the illegal arms trade. 

Pine was asked to infiltrate the inner circle of an English billionaire, Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) and spy on him, yet found himself drawn towards Roper's beautiful fiance Jed Marshall (Elizabeth Debicki). 

However, while the first season was based on John Le Carre's famous novel, the acclaimed writer never got around to penning a sequel, so the second season will be charting new territory. 

Le Carré – real name David Cornwell – passed away at the age of 89 in December 2020, but letters published in the 2022 book "A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré" revealed how he had several meetings about a possible follow-up series. 

In one message he explained how he hoped to "bring together the old gang, minus Tom Hollander, whose part I so carelessly dispatched".

We hope David Farr, who adapted the first series and has been signed up to write the new one, was present at those meetings and managed to glean some ideas from the great novelist. 

Rumours suggest the second season will be set in the present day and directly follow on from where the first left off. Richard Roper has been carried off by the Syrians, and Jonathan Pine is informed that the billionaire has died two years later. But his troubles are far from over, as he's expected to face up to an even greater, deadlier challenge.

With South America named as one of the filming locations, it seems sure we can expect just as much sun as the last one, which took us to Egypt and the Mediterranean. 

The Night Manager season 2 cast

Tom Hiddleston (who's had great success with Disney Plus superhero series Loki) will return as the show's dashing lead, Jonathan Pine. 

There's no news yet on who else might be back, but stars like Oscar-winner Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debicki, who've both starred in different seasons of The Crown this appearing in The Night Manager season 1, could return.

Debicki played Jed Marshall, Richard Roper's partner who became romantically involved with Jonathan Pine, while Colman played Angela Burr, a member of the Foreign Office task force. 

David Harewood could also return, although we fear Tom Hollander, who played the foul-mouthed and ill-fated Corky, won't be back. We didn't really like him much anyway tbh. 

The Night Manager season 2 trailer

There's no trailer for this one yet, but we'll be sure to let you know as soon as one drops. 

Sean Marland

Sean is a Senior Feature writer for TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week, who also writes for whattowatch.com. He's been covering the world of TV for over 15 years and in that time he's been lucky enough to interview stars like Ian McKellen, Tom Hardy and Kate Winslet. His favourite shows are I'm Alan Partridge, The Wire, People Just Do Nothing and Succession and in his spare time he enjoys drinking tea, doing crosswords and watching football.