Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston in John le Carré drama

The espionage drama - the first small screen le Carré adaptation for two decades - centres on former British solider Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston) who has to infiltrate the dangerous world of the arms trade and dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Laurie).

The two leads are enthused about the behemoth undertaking, with Hiddleston saying: “…It’s an honour and a privilege to work with such truly impeccable collaborators as Hugh Laurie and Susanne Bier in bringing this to the screen. David Farr’s screenplay, adapted from le Carré’s brilliant novel, is absolutely outstanding. I’m beyond thrilled and I can’t wait.”

Laurie added: "I loved The Night Manager when it was published, and for more than 20 years have yearned to see it realized on screen. I am now thrilled and honoured to have the frontest of front row seats. All the moving parts are finely machined - we just have to not mess it up."

With offices in London and LA, production company The Ink Factory is run by le Carré’s sons Stephen and Simon Cornwell – who are executive producers on the project. The shingle wrapped filming last year on a big screen le Carré adaptation, Our Kind of Traitor, starring Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, Stellan Skarsgard, Jeremy Northam and Naomie Harris. That feature used multiple filming locations, including Morocco, France, Switzerland, Russia, Finland and the UK.

The Night Manager looks set to be the latest in the growing line-up of large-scale, big-budget international co-productions for the small screen, a trend that is set to continue as high-profile writers, directors and actors continue to board long-line TV drama projects such as Sky’s Fortitude, set to air simultaneously across the U.K, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy and the US on 29 January, and Haut et Court/Warp Films’ epic crime thriller series The Last Panthers, which is shooting in Montenegro, Serbia, France and the UK.