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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy poster
TV · 1979

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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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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Cast & crew

Episodes

1 season · 7 episodes
Limited Series7 ep. · 1979

  1. Episode 1: Return to the Circus

    Sep 10, 1979 · 50 min

    Retired espionage veteran George Smiley is called out on a top-secret mission: to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.

  2. Episode 2: Tarr Tells His Story

    Sep 17, 1979 · 49 min

    British agent Ricki Tarr, believed to have defected, resurfaces with sensational information: confirmation of a Russian mole in the Service.

  3. Episode 3: Smiley Tracks the Mole

    Sep 24, 1979 · 47 min

    The investigation begins, with Peter Guillam burgling the archives for information, while Smiley visits an old comrade whose past knowledge could prove vital to locating the spy.

  4. Episode 4: How It All Fits Together

    Oct 1, 1979 · 43 min

    While Guillam and Tarr come under pressure, Smiley recounts his one meeting with Soviet master spy Karla, who is undoubtedly running the mole inside MI6.

  5. Episode 5: Tinker Tailor

    Oct 8, 1979 · 45 min

    Smiley calls on ex-Circus spy San Collins, who was the duty officer the night Jim Prideaux was shot. Collins confirms the events as Smiley understands them and that Prideaux's good friend Bill Hayden is the senior officer who took charge of the case after all hell broke loose. Smiley subsequently meets with Prideaux to get a firsthand account of the events during the disastrous Operation Testify in Czechoslovakia.

  6. Episode 6: Smiley Sets a Trap

    Oct 15, 1979 · 41 min

    Smiley confronts one of his suspects and gives him the results of his investigations, which could prove a considerable embarrassment to those concerned.

  7. Episode 7: Flushing Out the Mole

    Oct 22, 1979 · 43 min

    Smiley springs his trap and catches the mole, who confesses how and why it happened, and the answers ultimately rob Smiley of any sense of victory.