If the first two instalments of The Night Manager left you pining for more - pun very much intended - then reports that a second series is apparently in the works might seem like welcome news.
Though there's been no official confirmation, you can't blame the Beeb if the rumours are true. Its John le Carré adaptation has earned mostly strong reviews and actually grew its audience in its second week, with over 6 million tuning in.
"We're not ruling it out, but we're not ruling it in," said executive producer Simon Cornwell, son of le Carré, of the prospect of a follow-up.
"It's a lovely idea but le Carré has never allowed an adaptation that goes beyond the parameters of the original book."
Yet the latest reports claim that the BBC is now in "advanced talks" with The Ink Factory - the production company run by Simon and his brother Stephen - for more episodes.
So where could The Night Manager go in a second series, given the lack of any further material from le Carré? Three episodes into BBC One's lavish screen version and it's difficult to imagine what form a sequel might take.
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You could certainly make a very serviceable series centred just around Olivia Colman's Burr - the superb scenes this week in which the wily intelligence officer simultaneously comforted and co-opted Juan (Antonio De La Torre) show just how such a spinoff might work.
But then as good as Colman is, and for all the spectacle and glamorous locations, there's no questioning that it's watching Tom Hiddleston face off against Hugh Laurie that's the main attraction here.
Hiddleston's enigmatic Pine now seems to be rather comfortable living under the roof of Laurie's reptilian Roper. Yes, he's technically a prisoner - but to take a line straight from Bond, it's a prison "mink-lined with first-class service".
Pine's attraction to Roper's attractive, complicated mistress Jed (Elizabeth Debicki) is certain to cause problems further down the road - but then Pine has proved himself rather adept at eliminating problems, with Tom Hollander's distrustful Corky apparently out on his ear by episode's end.
Pine is now dangerously close to his quarry - and it's watching these two dance around each other, playing cat-and-mouse, that makes The Night Manager so captivating.
Continuing the story of Pine vs. Roper beyond these six episodes would feel far-fetched, and would certainly run the risk of frustrating the audience. Yet equally, a second series without both Hiddleston and Laurie on board seems unthinkable.
For all the plaudits, perhaps it's best to just let this one be?
