omkar1984 I traversed to this series in a descending order - I saw the 2011 film adaptation and was impressed with the plot and the presentation. I went on to read(I rarely read novels) the novel and found it captivating. After years, I decided to watch this series. I couldn't help but compare this series with the film and the original book.The star cast is apt and the performances are solid. Except Roy Bland, I vividly recall every character and their countenances, personas. The bleak English climate, the somber and choking atmosphere in the Circus and the lives of the people involved, the no-nonsense portrayal of the events, a non-invasive background score are a perfect treat. One can actually feel the emotions and the tension e.g: when Control learns about the disaster, his face reflects 'All is lost'.The series does leave us desiring. While some techniques like checking for the 'baby sitters', delivering secret messages by hand etc. are depicted, how the spies evade surveillance, the transistor sound used by Smiley in the hotel(read this in the book) to avoid eavesdropping and so on could have been covered, even at the expense of adding another episode.To summarize, this is a series not to be missed, especially, if espionage is your interest.

blanche-2 Based on the novel by John LeCarre, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is one of the great British miniseries, towering among many great British miniseries we in the U.S. have been privileged to see on public television.This one stars the great Alec Guinness as retired M16 operative George Smiley. After about a year out of the "Circus," the name of his outfit, he is recruited once again, this time to help ferret out a very highly placed mole within the organization.Since whomever the spy is can't know he's under suspicion, Smiley has to try and find him with no access to official files. He has to rely on a few old friends and his own observations and memories, shown in flashback, of past conversations and events.There's something very depressing about this story of isolated men and their secrets working in a dreary world in which they're but shadows, only half-existing, neither hot or cold. It's a dreary life these men have chosen. It makes for intelligent drama, with no special effects, not even a lot of action, just a subtext of secrets and a lot not said.Alec Guinness is fabulous as the cold, observant Smiley, continuously cheated on by his wife and now looking for someone close to him in the upper echelons who cheated on everyone for years. The rest of the cast is like a who's who of great actors of an earlier era: Alexander Knox, Ian Richardson, Hywel Bennett, Ian Bannen, Michael Jayston, Bernard Hepton, and many others.Great script, true to the original story, great acting, you can't ask for much more than that.

pegd-1 I revisit John Le Carre's books every few years, and just finished the Smiley trilogy...Had seen the movie version of Tinker, Tailer when it came out, and I must say, it left me very confused....Hungary, Smiley swimming, Prideaux in a shopping mall, and on and on....Hadn't seen the TV series version in quite some time, so I decided to watch it again....It felt like returning to the heart of a great spy story....Brilliant.... Of all the fine acting performances I greatly appreciated Joss Ackland in a cameo role as Westerby and Anthony Bate as Lacon....But what makes this version work is the honesty of the script, the fine directorial balancing...Well done...

bob the moo It was only after I watched the recent film version that I decided that I should probably watch the BBC miniseries of the same material; I had always seen it included in various "best TV shows ever" lists but had never actually gotten around to watching it. With the film reasonably fresh in my mind I figured that I would have a better shot of following it if I watched it sooner rather than later. This was the case to a certain extent, because I did find the story easier to follow than in the film. Partly this is because I was already familiar with the overall flow but that is not to take anything away from the TV series, because I did think that having almost 7 hours instead of 2 made the story much clearer in terms of development.Characters have more room to be painted and the story is laid out slower so that even the less intelligent viewer such as myself has plenty of time to pick up on who is who and where this is all going. It also helps that it does move slow and that we are moving along at the same sort of pace as Smiley in regards weighing up the characters as the mole. While this is the thrust of the plot, I also liked the added detail around the edges as it not only filled out the characters but also added to the feeling of Britain as a rather faded superpower and of this backend of the Cold War being public schoolboys engaged in their own private game which comes with pre-packaged rules and etiquette. It has this downbeat tone throughout and the slow burn of the delivery only adds to the slightly awkward stiffness of men in rooms smoking and drinking coffee. The delivery of this feeling is across the show while at the same time drawing the viewer into this internal piece of espionage. Of course this slow pace and lack of traditional action may frustrate some – not helped perhaps by the fact that, although easier to follow than the film, it is still a mystery so there is a fair bit of not totally understanding what is going on, simply because you're not being told everything all at once.The cast are mostly very good but of course the standout is Guinness who tells a long story of hurt with just his plain expression. I liked Oldman's performance but it is secondary to this one; the difference between that one felt Oldman was giving a good performance, whereas here it simply feels like Guinness is this character; he understands him because he has lived the life. Support is good from Richardson, Bennett, Jayston, Hepton, Bannen and others but the show belongs to the lead. Irvin's direction is very good, perhaps it has dated a little but the whole thing has such a sense of place that it feels like it fits the period (as indeed the recent film did). I also liked that the camera had the patience and trust in the material to often be quite static while the dialogue did the work.Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not the easiest story to follow but the miniseries is more engaging and accessible because it gives you the space and time to keep up and for everything to make that bit more sense as it unfolds. The tone of drabness may be partially the dating effect but it is certainly effective in the world of the spy, sitting in drab rooms, smoking, playing it as a game even though the heydays are long gone. Guinness is excellent in the lead role, adding to this feeling and wearing the character to the point where it doesn't even feel like acting. For those that enjoyed the film (and I did) then miniseries will be additionally enjoyable because it does everything the film did but does it better and has more time to breathe and develop while doing it.