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Le Carré on the Beeb

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“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “Smiley’s People” have appeared on iPlayer. The original dramatisations with Alec Guinness. Both superb. This is a public service announcement.

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  1. I’ve had them on DVD for many years.
    They are both superb, though I think Tinker, Tailor is the better.
    Neither would be made today in the same way.
    Scenes are allowed to develop, the viewer is expected to do a bit of work and not have every facial expression or sideways glance explained. Nuance is all.
    Though to undermine myself, Guillam does say “I know that look, George. I’m breaking into the Circus, playing Burglar Bill, am I?”.

  3. I was disappointed that they never made “The Honourable Schoolboy” (which for the initiated falls between TTSS and SP) into a series, though I suspect the thought of having to pay for filming in foreign locations put them off.

    • I have TTSS on DVD and SP on the PVR and have rewatched them numerous times. Apparently they looked at dramatising Schoolboy but in the end the numerous exotic locations made it too expensive.

  5. Tinker Tailor is great, but I couldn’t get to grips with the Beeb’s Smiley’s People, and had to bow out after about 40 minutes.

    Truth be told, I couldn’t grasp what was going on, and wasn’t interested enough to wait to find out. I’ve found the same with the few Le Carre books I’ve tried reading. He did like a complex plot, didn’t he? If I liked his writing style, I would probably make more effort to finish one, but I’ve come to realise that his books are not for me.

    It may be that screenwriters simplify his plotlines while adapting them, but regardless, I much prefer the adaptations over the books. See also: the Harry Potter films.

  6. It’s worth noting that both are in HD on iPlayer and so better quality than the original DVD or PVR recordings (and can be downloaded using a bit of software).

    I presume these were shot on film and so are true HD transfers and not just upscales like some of the old BBC programs shot on video – paging @fentonsteve……

  7. Grabbed with the get. That’s a few evenings sorted when there’s a quality lacuna in the evening broadcast stuff (i.e. more than half the time). While this shit weather persists, I’m off to George’s for a wallow as the light fails.

    Thanks for the shout @Twang!

  8. I remember watching A Perfect Spy (or at least some of it) with my uncle back in the 80s. I find the adaptations to be quite symphonic, in that they are enormous works that create an atmosphere/a mood which you can immerse yourself in for a while, come away from without understanding or experiencing the whole, but still feel like you get the Le Carre world – formal, multi-layered, duplicitous and with single events riccocheting down the years or even decades through very-slowly evolving relationships.

    • If the BBC are adding old spy series to iPlayer, I wish they’d get around to Sleepers.

      It was a series from (checks Wikipedia) 1991, with Nigel Havers and the late, great Warren Clarke as two Russian sleeper agents who are reluctantly activated and then pursued by MI5 and the CIA.

      I only saw it when it was originally shown, but have never forgotten it. Weirdly, the thing that stays most in the mind is Havers’ character carrying his child’s big teddy bear (Maurice, IIRC) during the spy/chase mayhem, which sounds silly but actually gets quite poignant.

      C’mon BBC, put it back on!

  10. Finished watching Tinker, Tailor yesterday evening. Can’t recall having seen it before and was greatly impressed by the way it unfolded slowly with great, low key performances all round.

    I did watch Smiley’s People back in the 80s and greatly enjoyed it. Now me and the Mrs are ready for a rewatch.

    And thanks to Captain Darling for the recommendation of Sleepers.

  11. Talking of Le Carre, what’s the opinion on the new season on Night Manager ? (I know this one is not really Le Carre).

    I have it lined up to watch, but with the first season being a superb bit of telly, I am somewhat expecting to be a little disappointed. A relative said the first episode was very slow and gave up, but then the headlines on Monday after the finale (I haven’t read the actual reviews to avoid spoilers) seem to suggest it was rather good.

    Worth watching ?

        • Same here. It feels like the story is being unnecessarily dragged out, and…

          (*SPOILER ALERT*)

          …the effort that Pine and co. put in was all for nothing – and by extension, so was the time I spent watching them.

          Yes, Roper is a good character (and very well played by Hugh Laurie) and the writer is probably quite attached to him, but after six weeks there should have been at least some resolution or minor success for our hero, rather than Roper just proving what we already knew, that he was a devious manipulator.

          • I enjoyed it, but I think I’m only going to watch series 3 if its the final series.

            The BBC’s ‘Riot Women’ – which was also very good – finished with a set-up for series 2, which I wasn’t aware was going to be made. Slightly annoying. My problem, I know.

  12. when BBC4 did Le Carre night a few weeks ago alongside Mark Lawson talks to.. was an excellent doc made in the early nineties called The Secret Centre.

    Not on iplayer now as I can find, but well worth a watch on youtube etc. – the documentary makers take him back to Zurich, Hamburg etc where he worked for the secret service.

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