The Night Manager just dropped its biggest twist yet and no one saw it coming
The Night Manager series 2 has just delivered its most jaw-dropping moment so far – because at the end of episode 3, Richard Roper turned out to be very much alive. Yes, you did read that correctly.
Jonathan Pine was left reeling as he clocked a secret meeting between Teddy Dos Santos and his dear dad Roper. Seeing those two dangerous men together was enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine…
Once the initial shock wore off, the questions came thick and fast. How can Roper possibly be breathing after we watched his ‘corpse’ laid out in episode 1? Viewers may feel a little cheated – but spare a thought for Jonathan, who clearly had his entire world turned upside down.
Here’s everything we know so far about Richard Roper’s dramatic return, the leading theories about how he pulled it off, and what it could mean for Jonathan Pine in the future.
***Warning: spoilers for The Night Manager series 2 episode 3 ahead***
Richard Roper’s ‘dead’ body being identified in The Night Manager episode 1 (Credit: BBC)
Who is Richard Roper in The Night Manager?
Hugh Laurie’s Richard ‘Dickie’ Onslow Roper – aka “the worst man in the world” – was a smiling assassin. Beneath the charming facade and the expensive suits, he was an arms dealer utterly devoid of conscience. His motivations were simple: power and profit. The only crack in the armour seemed to be his son Daniel.
Series 2 has subsequently revealed another son from a different chapter of Roper’s life. Teddy Dos Santos was born from a relationship with a Mexican woman during Roper’s youth.
Back in series 1, former soldier turned hotel manager Jonathan Pine was recruited by British intelligence to infiltrate Roper’s operation. Against the odds, Pine helped dismantle the arms dealer’s empire.
But Roper never made it to justice. After Operation Limpit officers arrested him, furious Syrian criminals took matters into their own hands, hijacking the police van and driving off into the desert. Watching it disappear, Angela Burr summed it up perfectly: “He deserved it.”
Is Richard Roper dead?
Fast forward four years to The Night Manager episode 1, and viewers watched Jonathan Pine and Angela Burr in Syria identifying what they were told was Richard Roper’s body. We were informed he’d been executed – though, tellingly, no visible injuries were shown.
Despite Hugh Laurie’s brief appearance as the lifeless Roper, most viewers assumed that was the end of the character. Episode 3 proved just how wrong we were.
Richard Roper is clearly not dead, as we learnt in the closing minutes of The Night Manager episode 3.
Jonathan Pine got the shock of his life when he saw Richard Roper alive (Credit: BBC One)
Is Gilberto Hanson really Richard Roper?
In episode 3, Jonathan Pine edged closer to Teddy Dos Santos. It soon became clear that Teddy wasn’t acting alone, with whispers of another powerful figure lurking in the background: Gilberto Hanson.
Jonathan uncovered intelligence describing Hanson as a “terrifying local arms dealer whose reach extends to the heart of London’s intelligence community”. Digging deeper, Pine’s team discovered Hanson was officially listed as having died years earlier in a helicopter crash.
When Teddy arranged a meeting with Hanson, Jonathan followed – expecting answers. What he got instead was a huge bombshell, as well as a lot more questions. Posing as Gilberto Hanson was none other than Richard Roper, standing there in the flesh. Alive, with a rather glowing tan replacing his previously-seen deathly pallor.
The Night Manager episode 3: How can Richard Roper be alive?
One possibility is that Richard Roper bribed Syrian officials to convince British intelligence he was dead. Far more unsettling, though, is the idea that his “death” was a cover story approved by British intelligence themselves.
That second option feels worryingly plausible. It suggests Angela Burr may have deliberately misled Jonathan Pine. Painful as that idea is, episode 4 may finally give us some answers.
The series 2 trailer hints at a furious confrontation between Jonathan and Angela, in which Jonathan accuses Angela of lying to him. She replied: “I had no choice. This is our chance. To nail the London investors, the politicians, the whole rotten bunch.”
There’s also a chance Roper cut a deal with British intelligence to save himself from the Syrians. Could he now be helping to bring down his own son? It seems unlikely, but he is capable of betraying his own flesh and blood.
Richard Roper resurrected with a nice tan in The Night Manager episode 3 (Credit: BBC One)
What else happened in The Night Manager episode 2?
We started to see cracks in Teddy’s smooth armour, with hints of mental health struggles. Daddy issues, perhaps?
We learnt that Teddy is “creating an army” – men for hire.
Viewers also discovered the shipment Pine was tracking was being used to smuggle under-the-counter weapons into Britain.
And the tension between Jonathan and Roxana ramped up, with a near-kiss derailed by Sally arriving with urgent news.
Read more: 2026 dramas returning to our screens: What to watch from Line of Duty and Peaky Blinders to Rivals
The Night Manager series 2 continues with episode 4 on Sunday, January 18, 2025 at 9pm on BBC One.
