The Night Manager

1 EXT. MADRID. APOSTOL’S HOUSE. DAYEXT. MADRID. APOSTOL’S HOUSE. DAY.

1

A car pulls up at a large, palatial house in Madrid.

Apostol’s house. JOEL STEADMAN gets out.

He approaches the door. Rings.

Nothing. No answer.

STEADMAN leaps over a wall. Into a small courtyard. He can

see through modernist windows into the house, but no lights

are on, he can see nothing.

STEADMAN approaches a small door at the back.

It’s open.

He walks through.

3

INT. MADRID. APOSTOL’S HOUSE. DOWNSTAIRS. DAY. 3

He enters, walks through the kitchens at the back.

Into the main living area where the party once took place.

Empty.

Then he sees her.

The HOUSEKEEPER lying dead at the bottom of the stairs.

4

INT. MADRID. APOSTOL’S HOUSE. UPSTAIRS/BEDROOM. DAY. 4

STEADMAN takes out his gun, walks up the stairs.

Down the corridor.

To a room where the door is open.

It is a bedroom. Large, decadent.

STEADMAN gags.

On the bed is APOSTOL, naked astride his young mistress. But

both are dead.

His neck has been sliced, his blood has poured over the

sheets.

Her neck also sliced. Their dead eyes bore into each other.

Cigarette burns on his arms.

Cuts on his face. Signs of torture.

His face in pure burnt agony.

The Night Manager ep 5

TITLE:
THE NIGHT MANAGER

5 INT. PRIVATE JET. MID-FLIGHT. DAY. 5

PINE stares out the window of the private jet. Mountains

below, a clear day. ROPER opposite. FRISKY and TABBY in

front.

ROPER receives something on his tablet. Stares at it.

Preoccupied. PINE notices.

PINE:

What is The Haven?

ROPER:

Place in the mountains. A little

venture of mine. You were in the

army weren’t you?

PINE:

Yes. Iraq.

ROPER:

So you’ll be very much at home.

Beat. ROPER still stares at his tablet.

ROPER (CONT’D)

By the way. Next time no fisticuffs

unless I say so. There’ll be CCTV

pictures of you all over the

Istanbul press after that little

show at the hotel. I prefer my

operations to be quiet.

PINE:

The CCTV didn’t extend as far as

the rear. Twelve cameras out front,

three at the side but none at the

back. I checked.

ROPER:

Well aren’t you the top pupil.

He stares at him. Suspicion is suddenly in his eyes.

He pushes the tablet across to PINE. Pine looks.

It is a photograph of the papers that Pine stole from Roper’s

office. It has APOSTOL’s notes scribbled on it. PINE fakes

ignorance.

PINE:

What is it?

The Night Manager ep 5

ROPER:

It’s an account summary of the

entire operation. A complete list

of the people who are cashflowing

the deal, and whose arses you so

successfully licked in that hotel.

Summary of expenses. Names of

consultants, profit margins, the

whole shooting match. And yet

somehow this found its way into the

hands of a British law enforcement

officer called Angela Burr.

Beat. Dangerous.

ROPER (CONT’D)

Now here’s the problem. I happen to

know that only two people in the

world have this list in their

possession. Sandy Langbourne. And

me. So how did Angela Burr get it?

PINE stares.

PINE:

Would Langbourne betray you?

ROPER:

Anyone can betray anyone Jonathan.

You should know that.

PINE stares at the list.

PINE:

Someone helped her decode it.

He looks at the handwriting.

ROPER:

Our Spanish lawyer friend. That’s

why he’s no longer with us.

PINE stares across. Beat. ROPER sits, stewing, troubled, the

trapped animal.

PINE:

You should call off the sale.

ROPER:

Oh they’d love that. Those

Whitehall suits in the foyer. I

don’t give up that easy. Just have

to plug the leak. Someone on the

inside. Langbourne. Or Corkoran. Or

one of the heavies. Or you.

He stares at him.

The Night Manager ep 5

ROPER (CONT’D)

Was it you Jonathan?

PINE:

No it wasn’t.

ROPER stares at him. Trusting no one. PINE returns the gaze.

Steady. Calm.

ROPER:

Well whoever it was. They’re on

borrowed time. I don’t take to

traitors.

ROPER, wounded lion, prowls in his chair. PINE watches as the

plane continues over the mountains.

6 EXT. EASTERN TURKEY. MOUNTAIN AIRFIELD. DAY. 6

Remote landscape, a small airfield nestles tucked into the

folds of rock and ravine.

The private jet lands. And meeting them are three military

jeeps, driven by what seem to be British Army types, but on

closer inspection we see are mercenaries in standard

fatigues.

One man JASPER, walks out to greet ROPER.

JASPER:

Good trip sir?

ROPER:

Yes thank you Jasper. May I

introduce you to Andrew Birch the

director of Tradepass. We’ll be

facilitating Mr Birch’s sale

tonight.

JASPER:

Pleasure to meet you Mr Birch.

ROPER:

Mr Birch’s merchandise arrived from

Istanbul OK?

JASPER:

The trucks arrived this morning

sir. You missed a hell of a storm

last night.

PINE and ROPER climb into one car with JASPER; FRISKY, TABBY

and LANGBOURNE into another. The jeeps pour across the

airfield and into the mountains.

The Night Manager ep 5

7 I/E. JEEP. TURKISH MOUNTAIN ROAD. DAY. 7

PINE stares out the window. He passes small groups of

bedraggled refugees on the road, carrying what’s left of

their lives on shoulders and carts. JASPER sees PINE staring.

JASPER:

Refugee camps are all around here.

Syrian border’s a hundred miles to

the south.

ROPER:

Look at them. They come with

nothing, lives ripped apart, homes

destroyed. Meanwhile the taxis wait

on the main road for the Western

aid workers to get the hell back to

the airport as fast as their legs

can carry them. Well we offer our

own charity operation don’t we

Jasper.

JASPER:

Yes sir.

He smiles.

8 I/E. JEEP. REMOTE TURKISH MOUNTAIN ROAD. DAY. 8

The jeeps continue up the increasingly winding roads. We are

in remote mountainous terrain now, no towns, barely any sign

of life.

9 I/E. JEEP. REFUGEE CAMP. DAY 9

Finally the jeeps turn and drive down a track. At the end a

small camp for refugees. They stop.

ROPER:

Here it is. Our little

contribution. A safe haven for the

wretched of the earth.

A small aid camp. Fifty miserable tents, a muddle of

refugees.

ROPER (CONT’D)

Justifies us being here. No one

asks any questions about our other

activities.

10 I/E. JEEP. HILL FORT. DAY. 10

They drive on. And now in front of them stretches a huge

encampment.

The Night Manager ep 5

Dogs are barking, barbed wire fences, a military compound,

soldiers at the checkpoint, ROPER’s own army training base in

the middle of the Turkish mountains.

JASPER double hits his horn, SOLDIERS see ROPER is inside and

let them through the barrier. The jeeps stop inside and

ROPER, PINE, JASPER and LANGBOURNE, FRISKY and TABBY all get

out.

ROPER:

Tabby take everyone’s phone, no

comms, no calls in or out. Get Mr

Birch some suitable gear. (to

JASPER) You clear the site all

right? For the big show?

JASPER:

Happening as we speak sir.

ROPER turns to PINE.

ROPER:

(to Pine) Firework display tonight.

You’re master of ceremonies. Make

sure you know what you’re selling.

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