SpyCast Directing The Night Manager
Jan 20, 2026
Georgie (Georgi) Banks-Davies, a television director known for season two of The Night Manager, explains adapting le Carré’s world for TV. She talks about balancing realism with drama. She describes shooting in Colombia and on-location challenges. She reflects on gender in spy cinema and reshaping spy tropes through complex female characters.
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Why The Second Season Took Ten Years
- The Night Manager needed a decade gap because John le Carré wrote only one novel and resisted a sequel for years.
- Le Carré later gave his blessing to his sons and the Ink Factory to continue the story, allowing a second season to be developed carefully.
Rethinking The Spy Stereotype
- Georgie prioritized showing who MI6 agents actually are rather than leaning on the stereotypical Oxbridge, older white male image.
- She balanced authenticity (writer David Farr) with humanized representation and empathetic characterization.
The Series As Post-Brexit Political Allegory
- The season frames political espionage around post-Brexit Britain's scramble to maintain power and economic status.
- The plot explores how governments might enable conflict to extract resources and preserve privilege.
