The Night Manager

[Richard Tarleton]

The end did seem rather too neat and tidy for a late JLC

SPOILER ALERT

The ending is of course nothing like the ending of the book - this one, apparently, leaves open the possibility of a sequel, an idea to which JLeC not unreceptive apparently. Speculation in the press as to whether the final scene with Roper was a conscious reference to the final scene of The Long Good Friday, to which it displays a marked resemblance.

They "blew" a large part of the budget on the pyrotechnic display

Pub quiz facts: Tom Hiddlestone, Tom Hollander and Hugh Laurie all attended the Dragon School, apparently. Tom Hiddlestone, Hugh Laurie and Elizabeth Debicki are all 6'2".

[DracoM]

It is the distance the TV series has been - and growing - from the book that has saddened me.

And I am even more gobsmacked now about JLeC's endorsement of the TV fiasco than I was after epi 2. Crikey.

[vinteuil]

... Tom Hiddlestone, Hugh Laurie and Elizabeth Debicki are all 6'2".

... my computer tells me that Ms Debicki is the tallest of the lot - Mr Hiddleston at 1m 87, Mr Laurie at 1m 89, and Ms D at 1m 90....

[Richard Tarleton]

My source an interview in - was it The Times? - now in the recycling. So she's 6'2¾"

[gradus]

Hugely enjoyable TV adaptation but not having read the book, where does the $300m transferred out of Ropers account go? I am afraid I didn't understand that bit.

[Richard Tarleton]

where does the $300m transferred out of Ropers account go? I am afraid I didn't understand that bit.

That bit just doesn't happen in the book - so your guess as good as mine. Just somewhere out of Roper's reach. Perhaps an account number Burr had given Jonathan? In the book the denouement takes place on Roper's yacht, the Iron Pasha.....with an epilogue in Cornwall....it's all quite different.

[antongould]

That bit just doesn't happen in the book - so your guess as good as mine. Just somewhere out of Roper's reach. Perhaps an account number Burr had given Jonathan? In the book the denouement takes place on Roper's yacht, the Iron Pasha.....with an epilogue in Cornwall....it's all quite different.

.....
and I understand Corkey is very much alive and kicking ..... ???

[Richard Tarleton]

Indeed. Frisky and Tabby...aren't, and Jonathan is in much poorer shape and in no fit state for a possible sequel.

[jean]

How stupid to start an affair with Roper's girlfriend under Roper's nose. Did that happen in the book?

[Richard Tarleton]

Not in quite that way....I seem to remember it wasn't actually consummated by the end, when Roper discovers he's been betrayed....she's part of the deal when Jonathan is rescued. The end of the book is quite hard going, with Jonathan (rather than Jed) being tortured by Frisky or was it Tabby, several decks down on the Iron Pasha.....it's all quite different. As JLeC is quoted as saying (good-naturedly), he'd have been justified in saying "why don't you write your own damn novel" or words to that effect.

[johncorrigan]

I really enjoyed it. I thought Hugh Laurie grew into the part...really excellent, creepy, nasty. Actually I think HL would make a much better Bond than Hiddlestone; and I think I'll get on to 38 degrees to start a petition to have Olivia Coleman as the next Dr Who, after Pete hangs up his scarf that is.

[ahinton]

I really enjoyed it. I thought Hugh Laurie grew into the part...really excellent, creepy, nasty. Actually I think HL would make a much better Bond than Hiddlestone; and I think I'll get on to 38 degrees to start a petition to have Olivia Coleman as the next Dr Who, after Pete hangs up his scarf that is.

I must admit that my initial reactions tended to be of the "Smiley / Tinker it ain't" kind but it did have a slow burning fuse aspect to it and a masterly Hugh Laurie (well away from his usual fare and far more successfully so than Mr Atkinson in similar mode lately!) contributed subsantially to what I eventually felt was its considerable success until its somewhat less than convincing close that might almost imply the impression that a second series is in preparation (which surely it can't be?)...

[Lento]

... I liked his reaction when offered the naff tasselled key to his boss’s hotel suite — “Well, I adore it and I’m bloody sophisticated”

Charmant!