8 /10 1 Votes
7.2/10 TV Screenplay by John le Carré Theme music composer Patrick Gowers Number of episodes 6 | 8.7/10 IMDb Written by John Hopkins Directed by Simon Langton First episode date 20 September 1982 Director Simon Langton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Based on Smiley's People
by John le Carré Starring Alec Guinness
Michael Byrne
Anthony Bate
Bernard Hepton Awards British Academy Television Award for Best Actress Genres Miniseries, Drama, Espionage, Mystery Networks BBC, BBC Television, BBC Two Similar Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Barchester Chronicles, A Perfect Spy, Victoria Wood with All the Tri, Rasputin: Dark Servant o | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Smiley’s People was a 1982 drama miniseries in six parts, made for the BBC. Directed by Simon Langton, produced by Jonathan Powell, it is the television adaptation of the 1979 spy novel Smiley's People by John le Carré. Starring Alec Guinness, Michael Byrne, Anthony Bate and Bernard Hepton, it was first shown in the United Kingdom from 20 September to 22 October 1982, and in the United States beginning on 25 October 1982.
Contents
Plot
George Smiley is called out of retirement when one of his former assets, an émigré general, is found murdered. In tidying up loose ends for the "Circus", his former employer, he discovers a clandestine operation run by his nemesis, Karla, for his own personal benefit. Smiley is able to use this irregularity against Karla, forcing him to defect to the West.
Awards
In 1983 Smiley's People won four BAFTA awards, including Best Actor (for Alec Guinness) and Best Actress (for Beryl Reid), and was nominated for six others. The series also won a Peabody Award. In 2010, The Guardian ranked the series at number 17 in their list of "The Top 50 TV Dramas of All Time".