Creator David Farr Talks The Night Manager Series Two

Fleshing Out Le Carre’s Creations

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 its creator, writer and executive producer David Farr talking about the new run…

When did the idea first come around for a second season?

I remember it clearly. I was lying in bed in late 2020, and I hadn’t thought about The Night Manager for a long time. Suddenly, an image came into my head of a little boy in a monastery, waiting for his father. I realised suddenly who that boy and father were, and it all connected to the first season. Writing is a strange thing; sometimes you have images in your head that you don’t understand yet. I wanted to know what was behind that image.

Can you speak about the collaboration process with the executive producers at the development stage?

It worked differently this time. Last time there was a book that was adapted, which meant changing and shifting narratives to work well for screen. But this time, there was a blank page, but still with wonderful, iconic characters gifted to us by le Carré. My job was to take these characters into a new space that felt deeply faithful to le Carré. I had to create a story. The role of the producers is to ask all the questions that audiences will ask of that story, and Simon Cornwell, Stephen Garrett and Tessa Inkelaar are very good at that, pre-empting and second-guessing what the viewer will ask.

What sort of conversations have you had with Director Georgi Banks-Davies, and what has impressed you most seeing her work on set?

When we first met, Georgi said this show is about identity. This was music to my ears because that’s exactly what it’s about. It is about spies being representatives of us all. That we all create masks and facades for each other, we all present versions of ourselves, and at our worst, we lie to each other about who we are. We’re capable of betrayal. She understood that the piece, although it’s a glamorous thriller, is fundamentally about fracturing selves.

The first series was a direct adaptation, how different was this experience? Was there a freedom in being able to craft your own story from your own imagination, and does that bring a different responsibility?

When I adapted the book, I always felt there was this solid thing that was always there, but I felt I could depart from it. And le Carré, who was alive at the time, very much gave his blessing to a departure from the original text, but it was reassuring, as I always felt it was there. As for inventing something afresh, I still have a certain reassurance from the fact that I know the characters now. I know who Jonathan Pine is. He will surprise me as I write him, but I have a sense of him at the beginning, and that’s helpful. From a story point of view, you are completely on your own, and the hard work must be done.

Let’s move on to some of the great new characters, such as Teddy and Roxana. Can you introduce them both?

Teddy Dos Santos is the character I came up with first. He’s lost his family, and he’s a highly violent man, a gangster. He has become involved in a very dangerous operation, but with a very specific purpose, which is to effect a very severe regime change in his country. He’s haunted by the loss of his past. He has a beautiful soul and he’s got a child in him, as a lot of the characters do, but it’s a child that he can’t contact anymore. Then you have Roxana, a tough and rather wonderful hustler. She’s very good at pretending. I loved writing her because she’s ruthless, and she’s Machiavellian, but she has a heart, too. She also has a past that informs everything she does.

What do Diego Calva and Camila Morrone bring to the characters?

Diego was an unbelievable find because for Teddy Dos Santos to work, we needed someone with remarkable charisma, and a remarkable mixture of qualities. He had to be dangerous, but also vulnerable, and Diego has both things in him. He’s full of possibility, and that possibility can be violent, it can be deeply loving, which becomes captivating to watch. Camila is also a complete find. She has this authority and charisma and total control of her form, and I haven’t seen that before in someone so young. It’s very exciting to watch. She’s fiercely clever as a person.

How helpful has it been having such a dedicated and passionate actor bring the character of Jonathan Pine to life?

Tom Hiddleston has become a very close friend and a kind of brother. For him to inhabit the character of Jonathan Pine so completely, and then to come back to it after such a gap, it’s very emotional. The gap has been the most surprisingly emotional thing, for both of us, because it’s like returning to an old, deeply cherished friend. Pine is one of the most important roles that he’s ever played, and he inhabits it totally. Tom has read the book more times than I have; that’s how he works. His process is totally comprehensive and thorough.

What makes John le Carré such a special writer and creator of worlds?

I first came into contact with John le Carré when I was a kid, and I watched Smiley’s People with my dad, and then afterwards, went back and watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Something strange happened, I was 11 or 12, and I just went, “I want to do this.” I found it completely captivating. To then meet him with the possibility of adapting one of his stories was genuinely a dream come true. For it then to be a big success was enormously gratifying.