The Night Manager synopsis and promo: Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie play rivals in spy-drama

Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie star as rivals in The Night Manager, a contemporary espionage drama based on John le Carre's 1993 thriller novel of the same name. The six-part series, premieres on 21 February on BBC One in the UK and on 19 April on AMC in the US.

The official synopsis for the series reads as follows:

Former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is recruited by Burr (Olivia Colman), an intelligence operative. He is tasked to navigate Whitehall and Washington, D.C. where there is an alliance between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. He must infiltrate the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Hugh Laurie), Roper's girlfriend Jed (Elizabeth Debicki), and associate Corcoran (Tom Hollander).

The British-American show is directed by Susanne Bier and also stars Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander and Elizabeth Debicki. Actor Hugh Laurie who rose to fame for his portrayal of Dr Gregory House in House MD discussed about playing Richard Onslow Roper in The Night Manager.

Laurie told The Herald, "I was a devoted admirer of le Carre from a very young age and consumed all the Smiley novels and worried, as a lot of admirers of le Carre also worried I'm sure, that at the end of the Cold War, not only would there be a lot of unemployed spies, there would also be a lot of unemployed spy writers."

The 56-year-old actor explained, "But then I read this, and I found it endlessly intriguing - mythic almost. About three chapters in, I actually resolved to try - and I'd never done this before, or since - to option the book in the role of producer, which it turns out I am absolutely pathetic at."

Laurie, who will essay the role of an evil arms dealer in the series, said, " I always believed this story was irresistibly noble, thrilling and important. There's a righteous anger about le Carre's writing in this particular story."