The Night Manager

Agents make a bid for content production

Entourage (Credit: Sky)

This begins with a true story. I have withheld the real names, as I still want to do a little business, and certainly have lunch now and again, in LA. Some years ago, I went to see some senior executives at one of the major US talent agencies. We chatted amiably for the first 10 minutes, as you do. The normal stuff. “How long are you in town?” “I love London… you must know my friend Jack. He lives in Liverpool. That’s kinda near, isn’t it?” “The guy who runs NBC is going to be toast by Christmas.”

BBC announces adaptation of Le Carré's The Little Drummer Girl

The series is a collaboration between BBC One, AMC and The Ink Factory, who previously worked together on 2016's award-winning spy drama, The Night Manager.

​​Set amidst rising tensions in the Middle East during the 1970s, the show will star Florence Pugh as a young brilliant actress named Charlie, who is preparing for her ultimate role.

The lure of the small screen

The Night Manager

When the latest project from multiple Oscar nominees Peter Morgan (The Queen) and Stephen Daldry (The Reader) reaches audiences in November, it won’t be in cinemas.

Morgan has created and written The Crown, an extended biopic on the life of Queen Elizabeth II. Daldry is the executive producer and has directed an episode of the show. The series begins with Elizabeth’s marriage in 1947 and aims to recount the story of her life until the present day.

The Night Manager: Anatomy of a Hit

Nominated for 12 Primetime Emmys, it has been one of the most talked about series of the year and close to 10m viewers watched the finale on the BBC. Press reaction was overwhelmingly positive in both broadsheets and tabloids, and viewers were glued to their seats on Sunday nights.

This session, richly illustrated with clips, will tell the inside story of how the book was transformed into the series that had the nation talking. 

BBC eyes up Le Carre's Spy Who Came in From the Cold

Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, BBC

The novel was Le Carre’s breakout novel and tells the story of Alec Leamas, a veteran British spy who is ordered to bring down one of East Germany’s most high ranking intelligence officers.

The rumours come a week after The Night Manager, which aired on BBC One earlier this year, scooped 12 Emmy Awards nominations.

British talent shines in Emmy Awards nominations

Tom Hiddleston, hugh Laurie, BBC

The nominations contain around 50 nods for British television shows, actors, writers and directors.

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys was nominated for Best Lead Actor in a drama for his role in US spy drama The Americans, while Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba are all vying for Lead Actor in a limited series for BBC shows Sherlock: the Abominable Bride, The Night Manager and Luther respectively.