After a Decade in the Shadows, a Razor-Sharp Spy Series Has Quietly Slipped Back Into the Conversation — Long Before Slow Horses Redefined Modern Espionage TV, This Stylish Thriller About Secrets, Seduction, and Moral Compromise Once Set the Standard, and Now, With a New Season Arriving Almost Without Noise, Viewership Is Surging, Old Performances Are Being Rewatched With Fresh Eyes, and Audiences Are Realizing That the Cold, Calculated World of Arms Dealers, Double Lives, and Dangerous Loyalties Never Really Let Go — It Was Simply Waiting for the Right Moment to Strike Again

The Sleekest Spy Series Before ‘Slow Horses’ Sees Streaming Resurgence as New Season Debuts

Image via BBC One

Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he’ll watch anything once.He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Perhaps because of the dominance of “dad TV” in recent years, it was decided that the pioneer of the genre in the streaming era should be brought back. And so, a decade after it originally premiered, The Night Manager has returned with a second season. Starring Tom Hiddleston as a spy who infiltrates the inner circle of an international arms dealer, the show debuted at around the same time as Prime Video’s Bosch. The “dad TV” landscape has since seen major hits such as Jack Ryan, Reacher, The Terminal List, and more. After the second season’s recent debut, or perhaps because the first season was simply very good, The Night Manager saw an increase in viewership.

According to FlixPatrol, The Night Manager was among the most-watched shows on the global Prime Video charts on January 1, when the leader board was topped by Fallout. Released in 2016, The Night Manager was based on a book by John le Carré. The show features Olivia Colman as the protagonist’s handler, Hugh Laurie as the arms dealer, and Elizabeth Debicki as the arms dealer’s girlfriend. The six-episode first season was directed in its entirety by Susanne Bier. It opened to excellent reviews, and is currently sitting at a “certified fresh” 91% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “The Night Manager‘s smart writing and riveting story are elevated all the more by Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston’s captivating performances.”
Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman in Colombia-set 'The Night Manager 2'

John le Carré’s Greatest Character Is Set to Return

The new season premiered on January 1, and will also consist of six episodes. A few years ago, an Indian Hindi-language remake, starring Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor, and Sobhita Dhulipala was released to positive reviews on the now-defunct Disney+ Hotstar streaming service. Shortly after the first season of the original The Night Manager in 2016, an adaptation of le Carré’s The Little Drummer Girl was directed by Park Chan-wook. This came after Gary Oldman played the iconic spy George Smiley in a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy movie. Oldman has now settled into the Apple TV spy series Slow Horses, but Smiley will return in le Carré’s A Legacy of Spies soon, now played by Matthew Macfadyen.

You can watch The Night Manager on Prime Video, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates