BBC repeating Smiley adaptations from the 1970s on R4 Extra, starting with Call for the Dead

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

George Cole is Smiley and making a good fist of it. He would have been 100 this week, which is why they've scheduled this now. They've started with Call for the Dead, which precedes Tinker Tailor by a few years. The continuity announcer indicated that they plan to repeat other adaptations they have in the archives.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002b5v9/episodes/guide

I absolutely loved the much later adaptations they did with Simon Russell Beale as Smiley. If those are still available anywhere, I recommend them. (I bought the boxed set of CDs. May dig that out and work through them for comparison.)

For other Le Carré fans, this seems to be a very good resource for tracking down the various versions. https://spybrary.com/discover-the-best-john-le-carre-radio-adaptations-by-bbc-a-complete-list/

I just started listening to George Cole version and was v impressed (some BbC radio dramas from that period are hilarious). I was struck by how much he sounded like the tv Alec Guiness version though - which came first?

Love love love the Simon Russell Beale version best though.

I've got the boxed set of the cds with Simon Russell Beale as Smiley and they are just so good.

I had just relistened to them very recently, including Call for the dead, so actually hadn't bothered tuning into R4Extra series because I hadn't realised it was an earlier adaptation.

I will now make sure I listen to the George Cole version.

Thanks for the heads up. And for the Le Carre info link.

I definitely wouldn't call the Alec Guinness Smiley amusing. It's an absolute classic. The film they made with Gary Oldman is ok, but tv version is perfect tv, even the music.

I absolutely love the Alec Guiness Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy TV series adaptation. With the brilliant Hywell Bennett in it for added delight!

The acting, the music, the screen play and the casting are just wonderful.
I have it on CD and watch it periodically.

It's a mystery to me why those in the industry wanted to remake something which, imo, couldn't t be improved on.

Agreed on all points - the music is sublime, the casting was inspired, everything about the TV Tinker Tailor was wonderful. Michael Jayston, mmm.

Alfred Burke as Mendel in the radio adaptations is very good indeed. We have been watching Public Eye on Talking Pictures, which I'd never seen before. Marvellous downbeat 60s/70s drama starring Alfred Burke as a private enquiry agent. We also saw him recently in a late 50s/early 60s film about a trade union dispute called The Angry Silence, starring Richard Attenborough, and he was excellent there too.

We have the DVD set and also Smiley's People and A Perfect Spy with Peter Egan and Ray Macanally. As far as films go, I think the best Le Carre adaptation is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

Yes, I love that. Richard Burton and Claire Bloom.

Always have in mind the vast collection on archive.org audio:

https://archive.org/details/TheCompleteGeorgeSmileyBBC

If you look towards the bottom right of the webpage you'll see you can download the files.

I don't think the Alec Guiness version is amusing at all, I wasn't saying that. I meant some of the 70s and 80s thrillers I have heard on BBC Sounds have been quite funny interms of terrible acting and scripts!

However, having watched a bit of the TV Smiley I was a bit aghast at how slow it was and how veery brown. Some of the filming shots were just awful too. I understand it's a classic, but I remembered it quite differently.

I don't mind slow.

Thats what I like about John Le Carre. It's not crash bang wallop and we're done. It's measured and considered.

Agreed!

Thanks for this, I'll have to check them out. I do enjoy a Le Carre adaptation, although I never have the faintest idea what is going on😅