simondclinch-1 It's a good plot, at one point I thought that it would have been better if the enemy played the game as flawlessly as Smiley. But by the end I changed my mind - everything had to happen the way it happened! For me this was better than Tinker, Tailor although the plot accelerates as it goes on so require some patience at the beginning, which is well rewarded as the exciting finale draws closer.Also well acted. Once again though I was distracted somewhat by mispronunciation of foreign names. I was particularly surprised that Bernard Hepton, who had previously played a German in the Colditz series, couldn't pronounce his "own" name, "Esterhase" (est'rr haaze - the last e pronounced the same way as the first one) The BBC really ought to invest in that area - they are still apt to mispronounce place names on the World News for example. Also "Kantonalbank von Bern" is a bit clumsy - but just have to drop the "von" to make it authentic. I particularly liked some of the correct little details such as a "Turkischer Imbiss" in Berlin - it brings back memories of my own experiences there.So I still give it a 10, well-deserved relative to what else is available in the genre. It's so hard to get authentic spy fiction on screen and too easy to get silly spoofs instead.

TheLittleSongbird Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is still to this day one of the best mini-series I've seen. Hearing nothing but good things about Smiley's People I was strongly anticipating it. And I found it every bit as good. It is visually beautiful while staying true to the period, and the atmosphere that is evoked is both tense and melancholic. Smiley's People's music is haunting and doesn't fall into the trap of being too low-key or overbearing, the story is just as complex with a strong (poignant) moral ambiguity and the writing is very clever and intelligent. The camera work is stylishly done too, a number of times I would never have thought it was made for TV, likewise with the direction. With a series of this length, I was impressed by how much effort was made into making the audience care about the characters and how great the acting was. I love Eileen Atkins and she was in my view excellent. Alec Guiness is mesmerising in one of his best and most iconic roles. All in all, I loved it, it was every bit as good as Tinker, Tailor... and considering how justifiably magnificent that is, that's quite a feat. 10/10 Bethany Cox

delaine-3 I have read the books and seen the films countless times, and I am always held captive by the tales themselves. Guiness is incredibly subtle, showing pain, disgust, sadness, and finally determination with a mere eyebrow raised, a pinch of his lips, and a furrowed brow.All the actors play their roles extremely well. I am particularly impressed by Eileen Atkins and Bernard Hepton. Even though, I assume due to time constraints, certain scenes from the book have been abbreviated, the general feel of the book - the increasing pressure and passion as we creep to the conclusion - is heart stopping.I believe this is one of the great classic films of the 20th century.

[email protected] If you are a John Le Carre fan, it doesn't get any better than this six part BBC series, available on three disks from Netflix and (presumably) other on line film services. Alec Guiness was a marvelous actor, as we all know, and he may have equaled his role as George Smiley in some film or stage performance. But that is difficult to believe. He is perfect in projecting Smiley's world-weariness, his outward reserve, his deliberate methods and his resentment at having been put out to pasture by the Circus. Bringing Karla over, as he does in the last of the six episodes, is his ultimate triumph and closes the book on a career which his superiors had already seen fit to end -- only to call him back for one last time. Guiness manages to convey Smiley's emotions and mental exertions with utmost physical restraint. A half smile here, a lifted eyebrow there, a nod of the head, a slight hand gesture. He never raises his voice, engages in no histrionics -- and yet it's all there in front of you, art in apparent artlessness. John Le Carre has written some excellent novels since the end of the Cold War but the Cold War was his subject, and the search for Karla is his epic. I'm inclined to doubt that any film could do justice to this complex novel -- or that any living actor could come within miles of Guiness's subtle performance.