George Smiley is one of the most brilliantly realized characters in British fiction.

Bespectacled, tubby, eternally middle-aged and deceptively ordinary, he has a mind like a steel trap. Former spy Fred Leiser is lured back from retirement, and manages to cross the border into East Germany in a dangerous nighttime operation.

But the world has changed since The Department's glory days during the Second World War. The harsh realities of the Cold War now prevail, and there is no place for heroes. When word reaches The Department that Soviet missiles are being installed close to the West German border, it seems the perfect opportunity to show their rivals that The Department still has value.

Starring the award-winning Simon Russell Beale as Smiley, and with a distinguished cast including Ian McDiarmid and Philip Jackson, this compelling dramatization of le Carre's fourth Smiley novel perfectly captures the atmosphere of deception and betrayal.