Smiley's People

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Smiley's People

By: John le Carré

Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Anna Chancellor, Full Cast, Simon Russell Beale

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About this listen

George Smiley is one of the most brilliantly realised characters in British fiction. Bespectacled, tubby, eternally middle-aged and deceptively ordinary, he has a mind like a steel trap and is said to possess ‘the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin’. When a Russian émigré is found murdered on Hampstead Heath, Smiley is called out of retirement to exorcise some Cold War ghosts from his clandestine past. What follows is Smiley the human being at his most vulnerable and Smiley the case officer at his most brilliant; and it takes to a thrilling conclusion his career-long, serpentine battle with the enigmatic and ruthless Russian spymaster Karla... Starring the award-winning Simon Russell Beale as Smiley, and with a distinguished cast including Anna Chancellor, Lindsay Duncan, Maggie Steed, Alex Jennings and Kenneth Cranham, this enthralling dramatisation captures every nuance of le Carré’s complex and compelling novel - the final book in John le Carré’s Karla trilogy. ‘a radio triumph... Simon Russell Beale’s pitch-perfect master spy’ - Financial Times.

John le CarréAlex JenningsAnna ChancellorFull CastSimon Russell BealeBBC AudioSmiley Radio Plays

Dramatisations

Espionage

Mystery

Spies & Politics

Thriller & Suspense

Exciting

Fiction

Adaptation

Suspense

Russia

Dramatisations Espionage Mystery Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Exciting Fiction Adaptation Suspense Russia

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Most relevant

I'm not sure why the BBC did a remake of this programme ,the original starring Bernard Hepton as George Smiley was better, no reflection on the actors of course but the scripting was not as good and not as straightforward,Part of the original start is missing,The original starts with a courting couple stumbling across Vladimers body on Hampstead Heath and a panic stricken Oliver Lacon dragging Smiley out of bed to investigate.
Also who was that disembodied woman's voice? was that supposed to be Smileys thoughts?
Verdict? Not as good as the original