John le Carré’s The Night Manager to be adapted for TV

Image: Krimidoedel / Wikimedia Commons
Image: Krimidoedel / Wikimedia Commons
BBC One is to screen a six-part adaptation of John le Carré’s The Night Manager – the channel’s first le Carré series in almost 30 years.

The last, 1987’s A Perfect Spy, followed widely acclaimed adaptations of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley’s People, both of which starred Sir Alec Guinness as legendary spy George Smiley.

David Farr is writing the “modern interpretation” of The Night Manager which was le Carré’s first post-Cold War novel when it was published in 1993.

In the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. Jonathan Pine is ready to stand up and be counted in the fight against this ultimate heart of darkness.

To infiltrate the inner circle of a lethal and amoral gangster, Pine must himself become a criminal…

Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, says: “It’s a fantastic coup to bring le Carré back to the BBC after almost 30 years. He is quite simply one of the greatest spy novelists of our time and it’s a real privilege to bring his work to a broad BBC One audience.”

Simon Cornwell, of production company The Ink Factory, added: “David Farr’s approach to the adaptation does full justice to the original in a thoroughly contemporary context, and brings its own unique energy to the piece.”

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