The Night Manager
Every now and then a British mini-series breaks through the content barrier. Both AMC Networks and BBC have had a great track record with the Sundance TV/BBC co-production, The Honourable Woman (one of my favourite binge worthy shows of 2015) and now they have done it again with The Night Manager which will air on Tuesday April 19th on AMC in North America.
For some people this is old news since it aired in February on the BBC in the UK, but for us over the pond is brand new exciting content.
The show brings together Hugh Laurie (House) and Tom Hiddleston (better known as Loki in the Avengers and Thor movies). Both powerhouse actors who own their characters. Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, an ex-soldier who is known in the hotel business as "The Night Manager". Pine eventually gets recruited by British Intelligence to infiltrate an arms dealer named Richard Roper, played by Laurie.
With only 6 episodes, each running 1 hr, the series runs fast with little time to draw things out. Don't mistake this for the show not being deep in character or motivation. The storyline does provide enough backdrop, so that we as an audience believe each characters motivation.
Drawing over 10 Million viewers in the UK for the 1st episode it will be interesting to see how this translates on the zombie network (AMC). My fear is this series will get lost in the shuffle, but those in the know, will pick it up. With so much good content on TV and Online Networks this might be a tough one for North American audiences to commit to. But, if you do you will be rewarded with a tight story filled with spies, betrayal, corruption and revenge. Add in good storytelling and beautiful cinematography, The Night Manager delivers in 6 episodes what few series do in 22.
Reward yourself, watch the night manager, you deserve it!