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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Alec Guinness
George Smiley
Michael Jayston
Peter Guillam
Anthony Bate
Sir Oliver Lacon
George Sewell
Mendel
All 7 episodes plotted by IMDb rating
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7 episodes • 1979Avg: 9.9Golden Era
| # | Episode | Air Date | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Return to the Circus | Sep 10, 1979 | 9.7 |
| 2 | Tarr Tells His Story | Sep 17, 1979 | 10.0 |
| 3 | Smiley Tracks the Mole | Sep 24, 1979 | 9.7 |
| 4 | How It All Fits Together | Oct 1, 1979 | 9.7 |
| 5 | Tinker Tailor | Oct 8, 1979 | 10.0 |
| 6 | Smiley Sets a Trap | Oct 15, 1979 | 10.0 |
| 7 | Flushing Out the Mole | Oct 22, 1979 | 10.0 |
