The Night Manager season two came to an end this evening (Sunday 1st February) with a gripping, anxiety-inducing finale which saw Richard Roper gain the upper hand. But fans needn’t worry – there’s plenty more of Jonathan (now Christopher, or is it Andrew Birch?) Pine to come, with the series already confirmed to return for a third season.
The upcoming instalment will serve as the final chapter in the trilogy inspired by John le Carré’s novel, but there’s no need to get sentimental just yet. The good news is that, unlike the long wait between seasons one and two, viewers won’t have to wait nearly a decade this time, according to leading man Tom Hiddleston.
So, when will The Night Manager season three air, and what can audiences expect?
Here’s everything we know so far, including what Hiddleston has revealed about the third instalment.
Will The Night Manager return for season 3?
It will! Tom Hiddleston confirmed that the BBC thriller would return for a third season.
During an appearance on This Morning, the actor, 44, said: “I can confirm that there will be a third season. We always constructed this one at the beginning of a twelve episode story.”
“It gave us greater scope, in terms of imagining where the story might go, knowing that we had another story come.”
He added to TV Insider: “It’s not in official pre-production, but it’s in official development… We’re working on it, we’re refining the story and the architecture of what we really like. It’s very exciting because we’ve always been able to plan Season 2 and Season 3 as a two-volume story – 12 hours and 12 episodes are very different from six episodes, so we know where the story ends.”
When will The Night Manager season 3 start?
Daniele Venturelli//Getty Images
An exact release date has yet to be confirmed, but we do know that viewers won’t have to wait as long as they did for season two.
During an appearance on This Morning, Tom Hiddleston was asked by presenter Cat Deeley whether fans were facing “another decade” before new episodes arrive. He replied: “No, it’ll be sooner than that! If we had to wait another ten years I’d be 55, and I don’t know how much running onto motorbikes I’d be able to do. But we’ll see.”
Season one premiered in the UK on 21st February 2016, airing weekly on the BBC across six episodes, with the finale broadcast on 27th March. Almost a decade later, season two launched on 1st January 2026, reaching its conclusion on 1st February 2026.
We’ll update you right here once we have an exact date. But let’s hope we’re looking at 2027 – not 2036!
Related StoriesWhat can viewers expect from The Night Manager season 3?
Director Georgi Banks-Davies recently shared an update on The Night Manager, confirming that a third season is already in development. She explained: “A third season was always in the offing. David [Farr] is writing it now — he’s at the coalface and still in the early stages. When the second season came together, the plan was always to make it a trilogy. When you watch the full run, each series can stand alone, but season two very much functions as the middle chapter.”
BBC
While plot details for season three remain under wraps, if season two is anything to go by, viewers can expect another tense, globe-trotting thriller.
The series returned nine years after Jonathan Pine first tricked arms dealer Richard Roper in Egypt, delivering him into the hands of Syrian captors. With Roper believed dead, Pine resurfaced as Alex Goodwin, a low-level MI6 officer. That fragile new life quickly began to unravel after Pine spotted one of Roper’s former associates in London, setting off a chain of events that ultimately revealed Roper was alive and operating under the alias Gilberto Hanson while in hiding.
The season finale took place in Colombia, with Jonathan Pine assuming he had tricked Roper once again. Only this time around? Roper had the upper hand, and the arms deal went through – leaving Pine running for his life with a gunshot wound in his arm.
BBC
The Night Manager season 3 cast
Like the plot, the cast for season three has yet to be announced. However, Tom Hiddleston has basically confirmed he’ll be back as the formidable Jonathan Pine – because what would The Night Manager be without him?
It’s very likely Richard Roper, aka Hugh Laurie, will also be back, because the storyline basically hinges on the pair playing cat and mouse – and he seems to be thriving at the end of season two.
Noah Jupe, who plays Danny Roper, is expected to have a larger role in season three following his appearances in several season two episodes. The final scenes of season two ended with Roper arriving at Danny’s school, saying, “Ready? Thought I’d bust you out of school for the weekend and show you the new place in Oxford.”
He then says, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you. How would you feel about us getting some dogs?
Could we have a new dynamic duo be on the horizon? And will Danny have any loyalty to Jonathan Pine, after he seemingly (sort of..) saved his life in season one?
Unfortunately, as viewers of season two will know, Olivia Colman is very unlikely to reprise her role as Angela Burr, because she is shot by an anonymous person in the season finale, at her home in France. Not Angela!
Only time will tell what will happen in season three, but one thing’s for sure: We’ll be seated.
The Night Manager seasons one and two are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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