Alistair Petrie Talks The Night Manager Series Two

The Return Of A Seductive Espionage Thriller

The BBC’s The Night Manager, based on John LeCarre’s novel, returns for a second series this January after quite a gap and here’s one of its cast, Alistair Petrie, who plays Lord Sandy Langbourne, talking about the new run…

Can you recall when you were first informed that The Night Manager was to return, and what your initial reaction was?

Originally, it was designed to be a limited series based on the original novel that John le Carré wrote. But it was such a huge hit there was the natural suggestion that it might return. Everybody was excited by the prospect, so when the final, ‘it’s definitely happening’ message came through, I was excited to hang out with my mates and continue the saga. Because we had the success of the show, we were all bonded by it.

Can you talk to the brilliance of David Farr’s scripts, and recall those first experiences reading them?

It was just seeing the front cover. It said, ‘The Night Manager Season Two written by David Farr’, and a little tingle went up the back of my neck. I saw that front page and I actually put it down and thought, I’m just going to breathe that in for about 10 minutes, and then I’ll turn to page one. I’m thrilled that he’s doing it because no one knows it better than David Farr.

There are going to be some viewers coming into the season completely fresh. For those newcomers, what do they need to know to get up to speed?

First and foremost, new viewers are entering the world of an original creation by the greatest espionage storyteller of all time. It’s a genre which attracts an audience unlike any other. When you say it’s an espionage thriller, that always gets people excited; it invites you in more than any other genre. It makes you complicit. You are in the comfort of your sofa at home watching the show, but it asks you what would you do? How morally compromised are you? There’s a danger to it, which is incredibly seductive. With this drama and genre you are going to be entering into a world that is glamorous, dangerous, exciting, and morally compromised. And we will excite and confuse you.

John le Carré was one of the greatest espionage storytellers of all time. How do you think season two stays true to his spirit?

We’re blessed to have a creative team that are steeped in the world of le Carre. His sons produced the show along with Stephen Garrett, who is a master at the genre. There’s a lot of people that have an innate understanding of le Carré’s sensibility. Having that launch pad meant that we were in very safe hands, which won’t let us stray too far at all from the path of le Carré.