Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / Smiley’s People Double Pack Alec Guinness 2011

Double bill of BBC espionage drama mini-series based on the novels by John Le Carr and starring Alec Guinness as master spy George Smiley. In ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ (1979), Smiley has been in ‘retirement’ for some time, some say owing to his mishandling of the Czech scandal. However, the retiring superspy finds himself summoned back to the ‘Circus’ (British secret service) when it transpires that an enemy infiltrator is at work in the department. Smiley returns once again to his old department in ‘Smiley’s People’ (1982) following the murder of his friend, General Vladimir, a Russian who once worked for British Intelligence. When it transpires that Vladimir was in fact a double agent, Smiley becomes engaged in a battle of wills with his old adversaries at the Moscow Centre.