Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979– )

In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.

Stars:

Alec Guinness, Michael Jayston, Anthony Bate

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Alec Guinness	...	George Smiley (7 episodes, 1979)
Michael Jayston	...	Peter Guillam (7 episodes, 1979)
Anthony Bate	...	Sir Oliver Lacon (7 episodes, 1979)
George Sewell	...	Mendel (7 episodes, 1979)
Bernard Hepton	...	Toby Esterhase (5 episodes, 1979)
Ian Richardson	...	Bill Haydon (5 episodes, 1979)
Hywel Bennett	...	Ricki Tarr (5 episodes, 1979)
Terence Rigby	...	Roy Bland (4 episodes, 1979)
Ian Bannen	...	Jim Prideaux (4 episodes, 1979)
Michael Aldridge	...	Percy Alleline (4 episodes, 1979)
Alec Sabin	...	Fawn (4 episodes, 1979)
Alexander Knox	...	Control (3 episodes, 1979)
Duncan Jones	...	Roach (3 episodes, 1979)
Daniel Beecher	...	Spikely (3 episodes, 1979)
Joss Ackland	...	Jerry Westerby (2 episodes, 1979)
Frank Compton	...	Bryant (2 episodes, 1979)
Frank Moorey	...	Lauda Strickland (2 episodes, 1979)

Storyline

George Smiley has been retired for about a year when he finds a friend from the circus, his old outfit in British Intelligence sitting in his living room. He is taken to the home of an advisor to the Prime Minister on intelligence matters where he finds evidence that one of the men in the senior ranks of his old agency is a Russian spy. Smiley is asked to find him, without official access to any of the files in the Circus or letting on that anyone is under suspicion. With only a few old friends, his own powers of deduction, and secrecy as weapons, Smiley must unearth the spy who turned him out of the Circus.

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Plot Keywords:

spy | british intelligence | cold war | espionage | mole | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Czech Russian

Release Date:

29 September 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Az áruló

Filming Locations:

Bywater Street, Chelsea, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

290 min 315 min (7 parts)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Source author John le Carré included 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' as one of his four best novels during an interview on 5 October 2008 on BBC Four. The other best works he selected were 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold', 'The Tailor of Panama' and 'The Constant Gardener'.

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Goofs

In episode 6, when Peter Guillam is testing the taping system at the safe house, he says the recorder is voice-activated, but it doesn't stop turning on his first silent pause, which is much longer than his second and third pauses, when it stops instantly.

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Quotes

George Smiley: Topicality is always suspect.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits show a set of Russian matryoshka dolls. One doll opens up to reveal a doll more irate than the other one, and the final doll is seen as being faceless. This was inspired by a line at the end of the "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" novel: "Smiley settled on a picture of one of those little Russian dolls that open up to reveal one inside the other, and another inside him. Of all men living, only Karla had seen the last little doll inside..."

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Connections

Follows The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Nunc Dimittis"
Composed by Geoffrey Burgon
Sung by Paul Phoenix and the Boys of the St Paul's Cathedral Choir

User Reviews

Just about as good as it gets

Sir Alec Guinness is so good at being George Smiley that John LeCarre claims he can no longer write the character about without seeing Guinness' face. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, and the script captures the novel almost flawlessly. It takes six hours because the story is complex and ranges over many years and many characters, but it is so well-written and acted that the any viewer with an attention span longer than that of a gnat can easily keep track of who did what and when, so that the ultimate unmasking of the traitor may be a surprise, but it is not a shock.