The Night Manager (miniseries)

The Night Manager

series title over the top of a glass

Title card
Genre Drama
Espionage
Based on The Night Manager
by John le Carré
Screenplay by David Farr
Directed by Susanne Bier
Starring
Music by Victor Reyes
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 6 (list of episodes)
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 television serial 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 serial internationally to over 180 countries.

Plot

Luxury hotel night manager, and 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).

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 on 19 March 2015 in Zermatt, Switzerland.[5][6] Production then moved to London, UK. From 13–17 April 2015, location filming took place at Blackpool Mill Cottage, Hartland Abbey, and in and around Hartland, Devon.[7] On 20 April 2015, production moved to Marrakesh, Morocco. The Es Saadi Resort was used as the location for the fictional Nefertiti Hotel in Cairo.[8] At the end of May, production moved to Mallorca, Spain; principal photography wrapped in Mallorca on 3 July 2015.[9][10]

The author John le Carré made an appearance in Episode 4.[11]

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.[12] TV3 in New Zealand broadcast the first episode on 28 February 2016.[13] In the United States, the show premiered on 19 April 2016 on AMC.[14] The serial was scheduled to air in Australia on BBC First on 20 March 2016.[15] The serial aired in Saudi Arabia on AMC starting on 6 June 2016. In Finland the serial premiered 22 June 2016 on MTV3.[16] In Sweden the serial first aired on 22 August 2016 on TV4, split up into eight episodes.[17] In Germany the serial started airing on 29 August 2016 on ZDF and on Raidió Teilifís Éireann in Ireland.[18]

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [19][A]
1"Episode 1"21 February 201610.18
During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Jonathan Pine works as night manager of the Nefertiti Hotel in Cairo, Egypt. He becomes involved with Sophie Alekan, the mistress of playboy Freddie Hamid, whose wealthy family is highly influential in 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, England, resulting in Sophie's death. Four years later, intelligence officer Angela Burr contacts Pine, now night manager of the Meisters Hotel in Zermatt, Switzerland, 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, England, establishing a violent cover identity. Later, Angela sends him to Spain, where Roper is meeting partners in relation to an arms deal. The operation to place Jonathan within Roper's organization is named Limpet. In Majorca, Spain, a staged abduction of Roper's son Daniel is conducted at a seaside restaurant. Jonathan, as Quince, in place as a chef at the restaurant, appears to free Daniel by confronting and battling the attackers. During the confrontation one of the abductors violently beats him in retaliation for his excessive violence against another of the kidnappers as part of the fake rescue. The badly injured Quince is taken by Roper back to his villa. Roper believes he is "Pine from Switzerland" and is grateful to him for the rescue and allows him to recover, but remains skeptical. 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 works to keep the status of Operation Limpet secret from the "River House" (MI6), who she believes will disrupt the operation if they learn about it.
3"Episode 3"6 March 20169.74
In Madrid, Spain, 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, photographs 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. In London, members of the River House attempt to take control of Limpet from Angela's backer Rex Mayhew – he resists, even when offered a bribe. Later, another corrupt River House member meets with Roper in Monaco, and tells Roper about the existence of Limpet (though not Jonathan's role, of which he is unaware).
4"Episode 4"13 March 20169.61
Roper gives Jonathan the details of his Andrew Birch identity and his plan to introduce him to willing financial supporters of Tradepass. He adds that the investors will not know where the money comes from, as the company will be registered in Cyprus and Geneva, Switzerland. At the IEA, Angela produces Tradepass documents and explains that Roper pays his investors 20-percent profit for backing Tradepass, but sells his purchased weapons for twice the amount. Special attention is given to two names, Halo and Felix. Angela later learns that Halo is Dromgoole, who falsifies Ministry of Defence documents. Felix is Barbara Vandon, a Langley operative who assists in the falsification. Dromgoole suspects Apo to have leaked the Tradepass documents, and Apo is later found murdered. Meanwhile, Corky's suspicions about Jonathan and Roper's girlfriend Jed prove true when they have sex. She later calls him by his actual name over the phone, which reaches Angela who wants to pull him out. Jonathan tells her about a shipment of weapons crates in Istanbul that could amount to starting a war. When Angela refuses to listen, Jonathan tells Roper they are being watched and their team escapes from the IEA.
5"Episode 5"20 March 20169.67
During a flight to Turkey, Roper informs Jonathan of knowing Angela obtained the Tradepass documents, including those with written notes from Apo, which is why he is "no longer with us". Roper adds that he knows only four other people, including Jonathan, could have leaked the document. Arriving at a compound, called the Haven, mercenaries prepare to display their weapons to Roper. On a hill above a cleared village, he delights in seeing jets napalm it. Jonathan makes note of the convoy trucks disguised as aid trucks as they leave the compound. In London, Dromgoole contacts Angela to ask where she got the papers she took to Apo. She asks about Dromgoole's involvement with Roper. Dromgoole says he knows someone is on the inside for Limpet and warns her not to get in the way. Jonathan sneaks out of the compound to have his notes delivered to Angela but is caught by Corky upon returning. A struggle results in Jonathan beating Corky to death and Roper being told Corky may have met with someone outside the fence. Angela manages to request U.S. military action against Roper's trucks at the Syrian border. However, when inspected, they contain merely agriculture equipment. Roper, watching with his team via satellite feed, has played a shell game. They all return to Cairo, where Roper contacts Freddie Hamid.
6"Episode 6"27 March 20169.90
In London, following the botched raid at the Syrian border, the Ministry begins disbanding the IEA office. In Egypt, the Tradepass team meets Hamid, whom Jonathan denies knowing, and strike a deal for the weapons shipment. Meanwhile Angela arrives at Cairo after receiving Jonathan's tip. Later, Jed manages to get the code to Roper's safe for Jonathan, which he gives to Angela. She steals an envelope from it containing an owner registration certificate under Tradepass Holdings. At a casino, Jonathan spikes Hamid's drinks and escorts him home. He asks Hamid about Sophie's death, where Hamid reveals that Roper had her killed because she refused to tell him who helped her. As a result, Jonathan strangles Hamid and dumps him face down in the pool. Using the certificate, Jonathan sneaks in a team to investigate the weapons cargo and rig them with explosives, before returning the envelope to Jed. While replacing it, she is caught by Roper, who starts to have her tortured for information and figures out that Jonathan is the mole. Meanwhile, Jonathan transfers $300 million out of the Tradepass account. Angela saves Jed from being tortured by Roper's bodyguard, while Roper and Jonathan meet with the Egyptian buyers. Roper tells him to give an excellent performance with the investors or Jed will die. Jonathan blows the trucks up and has Roper take him to Jed, in exchange for the money. At the hotel, Angela confronts Roper, who attempts to phone Dromgoole to call her off, only to receive no answer – Angela's team, armed with the certificate as evidence of his involvement with Roper, has blackmailed him into staying silent. Roper is captured, but the police van is commandeered by his angered buyers, who drive off with Roper and his bodyguards to an ambiguous fate. Jed and Jonathan later make future plans, before he watches her depart the Nefertiti as he addresses the new night manager.

Critical reception

The series received widespread critical acclaim, with The Sun calling it "one of the greatest series of all time".[20]

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."[21]

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 Carré'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."[22]

IGN reviewer Jesse Schedeen gave the miniseries an 8.8 out of 10, saying "The Night Manager proves that television is the ideal format to bring le Carré's novels to life. This miniseries is tightly paced, suspenseful and boasts strong performances from the likes of Hiddleston, Laurie, Colman and Hollander. With any luck, this series will open the doors for more of le Carré's classic spy tales to make their way to the small screen."[23]

Accolades

Year Ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result
2016 68th Primetime Emmy Awards[24] Outstanding Limited Series The Night Manager Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Tom Hiddleston Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Hugh Laurie Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Olivia Colman Nominated
Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special Susanne Bier Won
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special David Farr Nominated
68th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards[24] Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special Jina Jay Nominated
Outstanding Main Title Design Patrick Clair, Jeff Han, Paul Kim, and Raoul Marks Nominated
Outstanding Main Title Theme Music Victor Reyes Nominated
Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special Won
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special Adam Armitage, Howard Bargroff, Peter Melemendjian, Alex Sawyer, and Barnaby Smith Nominated
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie Howard Bargroff and Aitor Bernguer Nominated
7th Critics' Choice Television Awards[25] Best Movie or Miniseries Pending
Actor – Movie or Miniseries Tom Hiddleston
Actress – Movie or Miniseries Olivia Colman
Supporting Actor – Movie or Miniseries Hugh Laurie
Supporting Actress – Movie or Miniseries Elizabeth Debicki
2017 21st Satellite Awards

[26]

 Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Tom Hiddleston Pending
Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Olivia Colman
Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Hugh Laurie

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. ↑ https://twitter.com/hughlaurie/status/578303548481519616
  7. ↑ "Filming - The Night Manager - Hartland Abbey & Gardens". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  8. ↑ "The Night Manager: Inside Es Saadi, the real-life Nefertiti Hotel". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  9. ↑ "Hugh Laurie on Twitter". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  10. ↑ "David Harewood on Twitter". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  11. ↑ Brennan, Ailis (22 February 2016). "11 Things you need to know about The Night Manager". GQ Magazines. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  12. ↑ AMC's El Infiltrado (Spanish)
  13. ↑ The Listener article (26 January 2016). "On TV, February 27 – March 4: including The Night Manager". The Listener Online. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  14. ↑ AMC press release (8 January 2016). "AMC Announces 2016 Spring Series Premieres and Releases First-Look Photos". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  15. ↑ "Foxtel Upfronts 2016: Local thrillers, Lifestyle & US Drama.". 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  16. ↑ "MTV3 - Yövahti" (in Finnish). mtv.fi. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  17. ↑ "TV4 play - The Night Manager" (in Swedish). TV4. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  18. ↑ "ZDF - The Night Manager" (in German). zdf.de. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  19. ↑ "Weekly top 30". Barb. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ Sisman, Adam (19 February 2016). "The Night Manager: le Carré's 'unexpected miracle'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  22. ↑ 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.
  23. ↑ Jesse Schedeen (April 18, 2016). "The Night Manager: Miniseries Review". IGN. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  24. 1 2 Hipes, Patrick (14 July 2016). "The 68th Annual Emmy Nominations: The Complete List". Deadline.com. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  25. ↑ Lincoln, Ross (November 14, 2016). "Critics' Choice TV Nominations Unveiled". deadline.com. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  26. ↑ "International Press Academy Announces Nominations for 21th Annual Satellite Awards" (PDF). 29 November 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.