Nearly a decade after its release, Amazon Prime viewers are binging a BBC thriller and bringing it into the UK’s top 10 on the streamer.
Ahead of its season 2 release on New Year’s Day, the spy drama has soared into the charts.
Fans are hungry for The Night Manager, a series that begins by following Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier turned night manager of a luxury hotel.
When the first season premiered in 2016, it quickly sparked speculation that Hiddleston could be a strong contender to become the next James Bond.
Many viewers drew comparisons between the two fictional spy worlds, with some saying that they thought The Night Manager was of a higher calibre.
‘This show is what James Bond should aim to be. Sexy, fast and writing that is tongue-in-cheek but serious,’ wrote Krithika Sundar on Google Reviews.
With only days left until season two comes out, it’s no wonder fans are bingeing the first season to catch up.
It airs on January 1 2026, making it nearly 10 years between the last season ending and this one beginning.
In the first season, Pine is recruited by Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), working for a Foreign Office task force, to infiltrate the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), a.k.a. ‘the worst man in the world’ who has ‘built an empire from his trade in human life’.
While completing the sting, Pine falls for Roper’s girlfriend, Jemima ‘Jed’ Marshall (Elizabeth Debicki), and attempts to use their relationship to his advantage.
The closer Pine gets to Roper, the more dangerous the situation becomes, until eventually everything reaches a head.
When the series aired, it was praised as being more ‘realistic’ than the 007 franchise we so readily associate with British spy thrillers, making it ‘all the more believable’, wrote Dave Jackson on Google.
However, it didn’t lack pace and drama, with Caleb Green calling it ‘more suspenseful than an Alfred Hitchcock movie’ in his review.
It earned the awards to prove it, picking up three Golden Globes in 2017 for best actor (Hiddleston), best supporting actor (Laurie) and best supporting actress (Colman), as well as a Bafta for best supporting actor (Tom Hollander).
The six-parter was based on John le Carré’s espionage novel published in 1993, but the second season will expand beyond the book.
Returning to the show will be Hiddleston and Colman, along with new faces like Babylon’s Diego Calva and Daisy Jones and the Six star Camila Morrone.
In season 2, viewers are transported from London to Colombia as Pine, now living under a new name to protect his identity, attempts to infiltrate another arms operation.
He’s also battling with a conspiracy that is threatening to destabilise a nation, and becoming embroiled in more romantic triangles.
The Night Manager season one is available to stream on Amazon Prime and is coming to BBC One for season two on New Year’s Day at 9.05pm.
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