Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-05-26
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 350 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy stars Alec Guinness as George Smiley, John Le Carré's familiar, ageing British Intelligence agent, called out of retirement to discover the identity of the high-ranking Russian mole who has burrowed deep into "The Circus"--codename for the British secret service. This slow-burning, complicated and ultimately rewarding BBC adaptation, dramatised by Arthur Hopcroft and directed by John Irvin, perfectly captures Le Carré's own insight into the shady underworld of spies and the political climate during the Cold War.

Le Carré's style is the antithesis of his contemporary Ian Fleming's--far from the glamorous lifestyle of Bond, with his fast cars and faster women, these agents ride around in Skodas, and Beryl Reid is the closest thing to a femme fatale, save for Smiley's elusive wife, Anne. An extraordinary cast (including Ian Bannen, Hywel Bennett and Ian Richardson), gritty realism and close attention to detail make Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy an outstanding piece of television drama. --Nicola Perry

DVD Description
The bespectacled spymaster is once again called from retirement to come to the aid of the ‘circus’ - and he returns with a vengeance. The murder of an emigre Soviet general who was also a British agent, sends him digging into the past on a twisted trail across Europe that moves, inexorably, towards a final showdown with his old adversary, Karla of Moscow centre.

Running Time: 350 minutes approx.

Special Features
Include:

• Edited documentary - The Secret Centre

Customer Reviews

Desert Island Top Pick
Another review is almost superfluous - existing comments appear to confirm without exception that many people agree with me: this is probably the finest piece of television ever made, and possibly the finest adaption on screen of a book, ever. I would simply like to pick out the sound recording for praise (has the part that street noise plays in real life atmosphere ever been so perfectly exploited?) and applaud the supporting cast for standing up, every one of them, to Alec Guinness when he was on such millenial form.
The contrast between formidable and vulnerable is the most believable thing I have ever seen an actor achieve. His most astonishing feat is that, in the very last shot of the entire series, his expression sums up the conflicting characteristics of Smiley, the whole complex and subtle delineation of Le Carre's novel, within a few seconds. This is the DVD I will keep, when Sue Lawley forces me to discard the other nine - should Desert Island Disks ever catch up with the digital multimedia age!

Absolutely superb
I watched this series first time around many, many years ago as it was serialised on the BBC and to say it was riveting does it no justice at all.

James Bond, eat your heart out - welcome to the real world. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy truly shows the BBC at it's best. I would suggest this drama is nigh impossible to surpass and even the acclaimed sequel, Smiley's People, could not better that. On a par, yes, and equally gripping, but no better.

For those who have never seen the late, great Sir Alec Guiness except in Star Wars, then, this is as good an opportunity there is to see a master at work - the role of George Smiley was surely custom made for him.

Read the synopsis, believe it, then buy it - you will not regret watching this, that's for sure.

A must for Le Carre fans and BBC nostalgists alike
I saw the original on TV as a naive kid, watching with my Dad (a committed Le Carre fan), not understanding the subtleties of the plot or characterisations. I then bought this for nostalgia reasons when the series was repeated in 2001 (I missed this airing). Having read all of my Dad's Le Carre Smiley books in between, I was amazed at just how well the characters in the book came to life. Alec Guiness IS George Smiley, both the brilliant spy and the flawed man. I'm convinced Le Carre could see into the future and was thinking of Alec Guiness as he wrote this book. Cheap at twice the price.