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.

boramaster The thing I find most astonishing is Sir John Gilgud's performance. Smiley is suppose to be a blank nowhere man. It's his cover. Sir John can do this admirably. But when Smiley start to focus hard on anything, you know he is a very formidable person. And Sir John can do this with a slight move of the mouth and, well, something, about the eyes. He's the forgettable school teacher that you really, REALLY did not want to have focused on you. He is one scary individual that you did NOT want to know was that scary. He's actually even more frightening in Smiley's People. That said, when are we going to get filmed the middle of this trilogy, The Honorable Schoolboy? Hum, the British seem to have actually done it. Have to give it a look...

Bob Taylor I've read the book three times, so when I found the DVD pack at the public library, I just had to try it. I wasn't disappointed, although I wished for a little more inspiration, a bit more risk-taking on the part of the writers and director. The dialogue you read in the book finds its way almost invariably into the film, so there is a certain feeling of deja-vu.Alec Guinness fits the part of Smiley very well, but he makes hardly any impression on me. His performance may be called clinical. Michael Jayston as Guillam is nervy and sometimes angry; he convinces me he is a dedicated agent. Bernard Hepton as the foppish Esterhase has some wonderful scenes. Alexander Knox gives a moving portrayal of Control, a man who has kept on doing his job long after he should have been pensioned off. The best work is done by Michael Aldridge; his Alleline is so pompous and tiresome you wonder why nobody has beaten his head in with a poker.

alcuinx As in the case of other reviewers, I had seen the original on PBC over thirty years ago and had despaired of seeing the series issued in DVD format in the US. After seeing the film version which was nice but one that pales in light of the original BBC series, I learned the series was available now and my copy arrived last week (along with Smiley's People) and I immediately watched them again to even, if possible, greater delight. As a rare bookseller, I have let valuable books remain uncataloged but this was nourishment that I needed and though I still read several books a week in my old age, this along with the Russian version of War and Peace remind me that one does not have to have lobotomy while viewing nonbook media.Richard Murian