BBC's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy miniseries turns 40

The Guardian

The BBC miniseries based on John Le Carré novel starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley, the master spy hunting down a Soviet mole in the British intelligence services, provoked controversy when it first aired starting on Sept. 10, 1979. "Largely over whether it made any sense or not," says Paul MacInnes. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which aired in the United States on PBS, "mystified a nation – but also featured one of the greatest performances ever seen on the small screen," says MacInnes. He adds: "In 2019, it is not just the bluffs and double bluffs (and treble and quadruple bluffs) that viewers might find baffling. It is the world in which the drama is set, the way its inhabitants behave and what – if anything – they believe in. Tinker Tailor very much remains TV caviar. But it is also, from today’s vantage point, a remarkable insight into a different time, one that itself offered a window on to another, dying world."