According to director Susanne Bier, Hugh Laurie originally wanted to play Jonathan Pine and did not think he was right for the role of Roper; he even had a list of actors who he thought would be better for the role until Bier convinced him otherwise.
The Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) character's pregnancy was written into the script when Colman disclosed that she was pregnant at her first meeting with the director, only weeks before shooting was to begin.
Upon release, this production was reported in the media to be the most expensive television drama to be produced by the BBC.
Source novelist John le Carré appears in uncredited cameos in both of the 2016 film adaptations of his novels. He appears as a museum guard in Un traître idéal (2016) and as a diner in episode four of Le directeur de nuit (2016).
According to an article by Hannah Ellis-Petersen published in The Guardian on 15 July 2016, to prepare for the role of night manager Jonathan Pine, actor Tom Hiddleston spent his nights shadowing the night manager of the five-star Rosewood Hotel in London.
John le Carré: Uncredited, the writer of the film's source novel of the same name appears as a diner in episode four.