FROM Dirty Den and Jon Snow to Bobby Ewing and, er, Cindy Beale, only the best TV characters are brought back from the dead. And I can reveal that arch villain Richard Roper is to make a shock return in the second series of The Night Manager. 8 Arms dealer Richard Roper, played by Hugh Laurie in The Night Manager, makes shock return for second series Credit: Alamy 8 Bobby Ewing made a similar comeback in Eighties soap Dallas Credit: Getty The reviled arms dealer, played by Hugh Laurie , was seen at the end of the BBC One thriller’s debut series being dragged away by heavies, apparently to meet his end.
A TV insider said of his comeback, which echoes Bobby’s in Eighties soap Dallas: “Everyone was working on the basis he’d been killed in series one, so this will come as a pleasant surprise. “It’s only going to crank up the excitement for the much-anticipated sequel, which has already started filming and is expected to air next year.” Marvel actor Tom Hiddleston has confirmed he is returning as Jonathan Pine, the central hero of John Le Carre’s book, which inspired the 2016 series.
His character was hired by Foreign Office official Angela Burr, played by Olivia Colman, who last week confirmed she is rejoining the cast. Alistair Petrie will also be back as Lord Alexander “Sandy” Langbourne, who is one of Roper’s very dodgy associates. The only leading actress absent is Elizabeth Debicki.
She is not due to reprise the role of Jed, who was in a love triangle w.