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The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas

BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

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The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas

By: John le Carré
Narrated by: full cast, Simon Russell Beale
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The complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carré's best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley. With a star cast including Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville and Lindsay Duncan, these enthralling dramatisations perfectly capture the atmosphere of le Carré's taut, thrilling spy novels. 'Call for the Dead' is the first Smiley novel, which sees him looking into an apparent suicide only to uncover a murderous conspiracy; 'A Murder of Quality' finds Smiley investigating a murder in a private school; 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' introduces Alec Leamas, a British intelligence officer whose East Berlin network is in tatters; 'The Looking Glass War' features former spy Fred Leiser, lured back from retirement to investigate a claim that Soviet missiles are being installed close to the West German border; 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' is the first book in the Karla trilogy, and sees Smiley searching for a mole who has infiltrated the Circus; 'The Honourable Schoolboy' sees Smiley determined to destroy his nemesis, Karla, and his spy networks; 'Smiley's People' finds George Smiley called out of retirement to exorcise some Cold War ghosts from his clandestine past; and 'The Secret Pilgrim' sees Smiley invited to dine with the eager new recruits at the Circus. He offers them his thoughts on espionage and, in doing so, prompts a former colleague to re-examine his own eventful secret life. 

©2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Espionage Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Exciting Funny
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Le Carre always gives you good value for money but add in the fantastic collection of actors who played the parts into the mix . It was brilliant . Thoroughly enjoyed the series .

Fantastic Dramatisations

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I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook.
If you are a fan of John Le Carré nothing needs to be said about the quality of the stories.
The delivery of those reading (performing) the audiobook is everything here, and the cast do a wonderful job of bringing these stories to life.
The extra bonus is the performance of Simon Russell Beale who sounds uncannily like Alec Guinness, the high watermark when it comes to George Smiley.
Totally recommended!

Excellent From Start to Finish

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I was completely immersed. All the performances were wonderfully credible and Simon RB was a perfect Smiley. The stories are often complicated but brilliant. Books you can read or listen to over and over again.

Fabulous throughout

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Continual horribly prominent gulping and swallowing sounds throughout all stories.
I do not need to hear the vocal, over-exaggerated gulps - multiple in drinking every scene. Eventually started fast forwarding through those scenes to avoid.

Plots great, Cast/Narration otherwise fine.

Good narration: except for horrid prominent gulps

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Before coming to this collection my only experience of George Smiley was via the brilliant television portrayals by Alec Guinness. All dramatizations feature Smiley to greater and lesser extents. The voice portrayals of Smiley by Simon Russell Beale are very like Alec Guinness and all the better for it. All in all a very good investment which will be revisited in the future.

A Great Listen For Quiet Moments

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