Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)

Directed by

John Irvin

Genre

crime television series, espionage television series

Country

United Kingdom

Length

1 season, 7 episodes

Rated

13+

Rating

7.6 of 10 from 127 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A veteran British intelligence officer comes out of retirement to secretly investigate a highly placed Soviet mole inside the secret service. The story follows his quiet and meticulous hunt for the traitor among his former colleagues.

slow-burntensecerebralbleaksuspensefulrestrainedmethodicalatmosphericgrim

What happens

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 1979 British spy drama television serial from the BBC, based upon John le Carré's 1974 novel. It is directed by John Irvin and produced by Jonathan Powell, written for the screen by Arthur Hopcraft. It stars Alec Guinness as George Smiley, along with Alexander Knox, Ian Richardson, Michael Jayston, Bernard Hepton, Anthony Bate, Ian Bannen, George Sewell, Michael Aldridge and Beryl Reid. The serial was originally shown in the United Kingdom in seven installments, aired from from 10 September to 22 October 1979 on BBC Two. In the United States, the serial was re-edited from the original seven episodes to fit into six episodes, beginning on 29 September 1980 as a part of PBS's Great Performances. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy received widespread acclaim from both critics and audiences. It won BAFTA TV Awards for Best Actor (for Guinness) and Best Film Cameraman (for Tony Pierce-Roberts), with seven other nominations. In the United States, the serial was nominated for a Outstanding Limited Series. It was followed by Smiley's People in 1982. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• The Omega Factor (1979)
• The Game (2014)
• A Spy Among Friends (2022)
• The Sandbaggers (1978)
• The Human Factor (1979)
• The Assets (2014)
• Shoestring (1979)
• Danger UXB (1979)