8 /10 1 Votes
7.6/10 TV Screenplay by John le Carré Theme music composer Geoffrey Burgon Final episode date 22 October 1979 Spin-off Smiley's People | 8.6/10 IMDb Written by Arthur Hopcraft Directed by John Irvin First episode date 10 September 1979 Networks BBC, BBC Two | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Based on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
by John le Carré Starring Alec Guinness
Michael Jayston
Anthony Bate
George Sewell Genres Espionage, Miniseries, Drama Similar A Perfect Spy, The Night Manager, The Company, Brideshead Revisited, Intelligence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 1979 seven-part drama spy mini-series made by BBC TV. John Irvin directed and Jonathan Powell produced this adaptation of John le Carré's novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974). The mini-series, which stars Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Michael Jayston, Anthony Bate, Ian Bannen, George Sewell, and Michael Aldridge, was shown in the United Kingdom from 10 September to 22 October 1979 and in the United States beginning on 29 September 1980.
Contents
In the US, syndicated broadcasts and DVD releases compressed the seven-part UK episodes into six, by shortening scenes and altering the narrative sequence. In the UK original, Smiley visits Connie Sachs before Peter Guillam's burglary of the Circus, while the US version reverses the sequence of these events, in line with the time sequence of the novel.
Plot
George Smiley (Guinness), deputy head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, is forced into retirement in the wake of Operation Testify, a failed spy mission to Czechoslovakia. Veteran British agent Jim Prideaux (Bannen) had been sent to meet with a Czech general he's been told has information identifying a deep-cover Soviet spy planted in the highest echelons of British Secret Intelligence Service, known as the Circus because of its headquarters at Cambridge Circus in London.
The mission proves to be a trap, and Prideaux is captured and brutally tortured by the Soviets. Britain's chief spymaster, known only as Control, is disgraced and soon replaced for his role in Testify by Percy Alleline (Aldridge). Control's obsession with the Soviet mole was not shared by others in the Circus. On the contrary, it is the British who believe they have a mole working for them in Moscow Centre, passing them secrets code-named Operation Witchcraft.
Fears of a mole are revived when Ricki Tarr (Bennett), a British agent gone missing in Portugal, turns up in England with new evidence backing up Control's theory whilst not identifying the mole. Control had narrowed down the list of suspects to four men – Roy Bland, Toby Esterhase, Bill Haydon and Percy Alleline – all of whom occupy high positions in the Circus. Knowing the covert Soviet spy enjoys considerable influence in the Circus, the British cannot trust their top spy masters to uncover the mole or even let them know of the investigation; Smiley is recalled to expose the mole.
Under instruction from Oliver Lacon, the civil servant responsible for overseeing the intelligence services, Smiley begins a secret investigation into the events surrounding Operation Testify, believing it will lead him to the identity of the mole, who Moscow Centre has given the cover name Gerald. With the help of his protégé Guillam, he gradually uncovers an ingenious plot, as well as the ultimate betrayal – of country, of the service and of friendship.
Production
Shortly before filming began, Alec Guinness asked author John le Carré to introduce him to a real spy to aid him in preparing for his role. Le Carré invited Guinesss to dinner with Sir Maurice Oldfield, who served as Chief of the British Intelligence Service from 1973–1978. During their meal, Guinness studied Sir Maurice intently for any mannerisms or quirks that he could use in his performance. When he saw Oldfield run his finger around the rim of his wine glass, he asked whether Oldfield was checking for poison—much to Oldfield's astonishment, as he was only checking how clean the glass was. The series was shot on location in Glasgow, Scotland; at Oxford University in Oxfordshire, England; at Bredon School in Gloucestershire, England (where the character Jim Prideaux was a master); at BBC ETD Wood Norton (final scenes with the mole) and in London, England.
Music
The end credits music, an arrangement of "Nunc dimittis" ("Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace") from the Book of Common Prayer (1662), was composed by Geoffrey Burgon for organ, trumpet, and treble; the score earned Burgon the Ivor Novello Award for 1979 and was a Top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart. The treble on the original recording, Paul Phoenix, was a tenor in the King's Singers later in his career.