History Series / TinkerTailorSoldierSpy

-->''Listen, George, I know Polyakov works for Moscow Center. Of course I do, we all know. But come on, think how many other operations we've run this way. We've bought Polyakov, right? He's a Moscow hood, but he's also our Joe. Now, he's got to pretend to his own people that he's spying on us, so we've got to give him one or two goodies now and again... Chickenfeed, so he can send them home and Moscow Center clap him on the back and tell him he's a big man. It happens all the time. Come on, George. You know the game.''
-->''The only problem arises when it turns out you've been handing Polyakov the crown jewels and getting Russian chickenfeed in return.''

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: George Smiley is described in ''Call for the Dead'' as short, plump, and always wearing ill-fitting clothes so he resembles a "shrunken toad". Which doesn't sound like Creator/AlecGuinness at all.

''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' is a seven-part miniseries based on the first book in Creator/JohnLeCarre's ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy; it aired in 1979 and starred Creator/AlecGuinness as [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService British Intelligence officer]] George Smiley. He reprised the role in '''''Smiley's People''''', made in 1981 and based on the third book in the same trilogy.[[note]]The middle installment, ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', takes place mostly in 1970s Hong Kong and Cambodia, so was quite naturally deemed too difficult to film due to budget constraints.[[/note]] Together, they chronicle Smiley's conflict with his opposite number in UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre, a legendary spymaster known as Karla (Creator/PatrickStewart), and thematically deal with the minutiae of spy work and the emotional toll it wreaks on people's lives.

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Toby explains to Smiley how FalseFlagOperations work, only to realize that this technique can very easily be turned on its users.

--->''The only problem arises when it turns out you've been handing Polyakov the crown jewels and getting Russian chickenfeed in return.''

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Toby, explaining to Smiley how he can be "certain" that there is no mole inside the Circus:
-->''Listen, George, I know Polyakov works for Moscow Center. Of course I do, we all know. But come on, think how many other operations we've run this way. We've bought Polyakov, right? He's a Moscow hood, but he's also our Joe. Now, he's got to pretend to his own people that he's spying on us, so we've got to give him one or two goodies now and again... Chickenfeed, so he can send them home and Moscow Center clap him on the back and tell him he's a big man. It happens all the time. Now, come on, George. You know the game.''
** Even as he says it, his expression says he knows full well what Smiley's rejoinder is:

* NiceShoes: Smiley wears a pair of orange suede desert boots. A trait Guiness borrowed from the real [=MI6=] boss, who he met for lunch along with John le Carré.

* CodeName: Lots.

* DeadpanSnarker: Bill Haydon.
** Also Ricki Tarr.

* TheMole: Natch.

* SharpDressedMan: Toby Esterhase.

* TranslationConvention: In ''Smiley's People.''
* TheVoiceless: Karla.

* TheWatson: Peter Guillam in ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy''.

* WhoWatchesTheWatchmen

*** Even as he says it, his expression says he knows full well what Smiley's rejoinder is:

** ''Listen, George, I know Polyakov works for Moscow Center. Of course I do, we all know. But come on, think how many other operations we've run this way. We've bought Polyakov, right? He's a Moscow hood, but he's also our Joe. Now, he's got to pretend to his own people that he's spying on us, so we've got to give him one or two goodies now and again... Chickenfeed, so he can send them home and Moscow Center clap him on the back and tell him he's a big man. It happens all the time. Now, come on, George. You know the game.

* BatmanGambit: Karla's plan in ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy''. [[spoiler:Because of the very particular way that the "source" Merlin operates, the heads of the Circus not only don't bother searching for a mole, they actively stop others from doing the same, because they believe they're keeping their own agent safe.]]

''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' is a seven-part miniseries based on the first book in Creator/JohnLeCarre's ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy; it aired in 1979 and starred Creator/AlecGuinness as [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService British Intelligence officer]] George Smiley. He reprised the role in '''''Smiley's People''''', made in 1981 and based on the third book in the same trilogy.[[note]]The middle installment, ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', takes place mostly in 1970s Hong Kong and Cambodia, so was quite naturally deemed too difficult to film due to budget constraints.[[/note]] Together, the chronicle Smiley's conflict with his opposite number in UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre, a legendary spymaster known as Karla (Creator/PatrickStewart), and thematically deal with the minutiae of spy work and the emotional toll it wreaks on people's lives.

''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' is a seven-part miniseries based on the first book in Creator/JohnLeCarre's ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy; it aired in 1979 and starred Creator/AlecGuinness as [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService British Intelligence officer]] George Smiley. He reprised the role in '''''Smiley's People''''', made in 1981 and based on the third book in the same trilogy.[[note]]The middle installment, ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', was deemed too difficult to film due to budget constraints.[[/note]] Together, the chronicle Smiley's conflict with his opposite number in UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre, a legendary spymaster known as Karla (Creator/PatrickStewart), and thematically deal with the minutiae of spy work and the emotional toll it wreaks on people's lives.

* BiTheWay: Connie Sachs is flirtatious with the men in the Circus, and is revealed to be in a romantic relationship with a former female Circus employee in ''Smiley's People''.
** Bill Haydon, he and Jim were together in their school days and he mentioned that he was with a boy, "a cherub, but no angel."

* {{Chiaroscuro}}: There is a lot of this. The credits sequence lists "Photography" as by Tony Pierce-Roberts, and puts his name before that of the producer. (Karla) prominently among the main cast, even though he has approximately three minutes of screen time and zero lines.

* MatryoshkaObject: The series has a traditional Russian doll in its intro. Each doll is revealed to have an irate expression until the final one, which is blank. This is reflecting the search for a Russian mole at the heart of MI6.

* NiceShoes: Smiley wears a pair of orange suede desert boots. A trait Guiness borrowed from the real MI6 boss, who he met for lunch along with John le Carré.

''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' is a seven-part miniseries based on the first book in Creator/JohnLeCarre's ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy; it aired in 1979 and starred Creator/AlecGuinness as [[SecretIntelligenceService British Intelligence officer]] George Smiley. He reprised the role in '''''Smiley's People''''', made in 1981 and based on the third book in the same trilogy.[[note]]The middle installment, ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', was deemed too difficult to film due to budget constraints.[[/note]] Together, the chronicle Smiley's conflict with his opposite number in UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre, a legendary spymaster known as Karla (Creator/PatrickStewart), and thematically deal with the minutiae of spy work and the emotional toll it wreaks on people's lives.

* OhCrap: After he's arrested as the mole, [[spoiler: Bill Haydon]] is unrepentant, even defiant. [[spoiler: Until Jim Prideaux, the close friend he betrayed to the Russians, shows up one night. Haydon, knowing he's about to die, is clearly rattled.]]

* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Toby works out how Jim slipped a message for Bill into the suit he'd sent to the cleaners.

* {{Casanova}}: Bill, he has at least four sexual partners mentioned, and there are probably others. Ricki Tarr as well is a bit of a player.

''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'' is a seven-part miniseries based on the first book in JohnLeCarre's ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'' trilogy; it aired in 1979 and starred Creator/AlecGuinness as [[SecretIntelligenceService British Intelligence officer]] George Smiley. He reprised the role in '''''Smiley's People''''', made in 1981 and based on the third book in the same trilogy.[[note]]The middle installment, ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', was deemed too difficult to film due to budget constraints.[[/note]] Together, the chronicle Smiley's conflict with his opposite number in UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre, a legendary spymaster known as Karla (Creator/PatrickStewart), and thematically deal with the minutiae of spy work and the emotional toll it wreaks on people's lives.

* CassandraTruth: Smiley's earlier warning that there was a mole was ignored, as it was assumed that he was trying to save Control from being fired.