The Night Manager

Tom Hiddleston's Jonathan Pine is drawn from hotel work into an operation against a wealthy arms dealer. The Night Manager makes good use of the gap between elegant hospitality and the business being conducted behind it.

Hugh Laurie gives Richard Roper an easy sociability that makes him more interesting than a villain who announces himself through menace alone. Pine has to function inside that company, where being welcome is useful without being the same thing as being safe. The original story's luxury settings make the undercover pressure feel particularly exposed.

My enthusiasm comes with a distinction between the runs. Season two started reasonably well for me, but its later writing and character decisions lost me. The attraction of the opening run remains its controlled pursuit and the central performances. The Americans is another strong choice for the strain of maintaining a cover.