Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
One of Britain's master spies is working for the enemy. Can George Smiley beat him at his deadly game?
Created by John Irvin, John le Carré
On BBC Two
A cerebral, paranoid Cold War espionage miniseries where an aging spy methodically uncovers betrayal through patient investigation rather than action.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a seven-part BBC2 spy drama written by Arthur Hopcraft, adapted from John le Carré's eponymous 1974 novel. The serial, which stars Alec Guinness, Alexander Knox, Ian Richardson, Michael Jayston, Bernard Hepton, Anthony Bate, Ian Bannen, George Sewell and Michael Aldridge, was broadcast from 10 September to 22 October 1979. George Smiley, the ageing master spy of the Cold War and once heir-apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.
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Same territory, far fewer people have seen it.
