Double bill of enthralling BBC espionage mini-series based on the novels by John Le Carre and starring Alec Guinness as master spy George Smiley: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) and Smiley's People (1982).
In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley has been in 'retirement' for some time, some say owing to his mishandling of the Czech scandal. However, he soon finds himself summoned back to the 'Circus' when it transpires that an enemy infiltrator is at work in the department. He quietly and assiduously goes to work in a world where spies spy on spies and nothing is quite as it seems.
The mild-mannered, steely Smiley returns once again to his old department in 'Smiley's People' 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 Moscow Centre.
