Fans of handsome, well-spoken, smug and superior-sounding Brits, who are in ‘Sherlock’ withdrawal (even with all the explosive sex to think about) can rejoice at the news that AMC is going to pair sexy and grouchy House star Hugh Laurie and sexy and mischievous Norse god Tom Hiddleston in a new miniseries. The Night Manager, based on a John Le Carre novel, is a BBC co-production. As the A.V. Club reports, “The series tells the story of a former soldier turned hotel auditor who becomes embroiled in a conflict between a mysterious woman and a black-market arms dealer. It’s not clear at this time how many episodes will be in the series, or which of the lead roles Laurie and Hiddleston, both of whom are returning to television after multi-year absences, will play.”
AMC won the rights to the series following a bidding-war, and The Hollywood Reporter notes that “The Night Manager order comes as AMC has largely abandoned its unscripted fare — save for Talking Dead and Comic Book Men — as the cable network home to The Walking Dead bulks up on scripted originals. It marks a return to the miniseries format that launched AMC into scripted programming with Broken Trail, which earned 16 Emmy nominations and took home four, and opened its doors for Mad Men and Breaking Bad.” Variety comments that “Word of AMC nabbing ‘Night Manager’ comes on the heels of the AMC Networks parent company closing a deal to buy half of the BBC America channel. One of the drivers of that deal was the desire for both sides to partner on high-end scripted productions such as ‘Night Manager.'”