Matthew Macfadyen to play Le Carre’s George Smiley, but first, rewatch the classics

When it comes to vibey, stylish and very British spy stories, you can’t get past John Le Carre.

It may not have the big stunts and high-octane action of James Bond, but Le Carre’s work certainly has the paranoia, double-crosses and trench coats vital to any espionage tale. Le Carre, who died in 2020, also famously wrote off Bond as nothing more than a thug.

For lovers of the writer’s stories, there’s a new screen adaptation in the works. Succession and Pride and Prejudice’s Matthew Macfadyen has joined a TV project based on Le Carre’s 2017 novel, A Legacy of Spies.

The Ink Factory, which owns the screen rights to the author’s work, is producing the show, which is being shopped to buyers right now, according to Deadline. Experienced TV writer Graham Yost (Band of Brothers, Silo, Justified) is onboard as executive producer.

Macfadyen is expected to play the role of George Smiley, who appears across several of Le Carre’s novels including in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

But based on that casting, there would need to be a tweaking of the character who is generally portrayed as older. Actors who have played him in the past include Gary Oldman, Alec Guinness, and Rupert Davies.

In the novel A Legacy of Spies, Smiley is retired and generally thought to be well into his twilight years. The story follows a former Smiley protégé, Peter Guillam, who is being set-up as the fall guy for past missions gone awry. It is a sequel to The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Smiley is also often characterised as mild-mannered but whip-smart, using his unintrusive presence to observe others. Le Carre said he wrote Smiley to represent everything his father, a con-man, hustler and associate of the gangster Kray twins, was not.

While you’re waiting to see what kind of spin Macfadyen can put on Smiley, presumably one that’s not as wormy as Tom Wambsgans, here are some Le Carre screen adaptions to watch tonight.

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

Nominated for three Oscars including for Gary Oldman’s performance, this moody thriller adapts Le Carre’s book in which Smiley is called on to discover who among MI6’s ranks is spying for the Soviets. The story was inspired by the defection of Kim Philby, who had been one of the Cambridge Five.

Watch it: Binge, Paramount+

THE CONSTANT GARDENER

Ralph Fiennes plays an unassuming British diplomat who surprises everyone by investigating his aid worker and activist wife’s murder. Told through two timelines including flashbacks, the story unravels the many secrets and threats, as well as their love story. Rachel Weisz won the Oscar for best supporting actress.

Watch it: Digital rental

THE NIGHT MANAGER

This 2016 miniseries is the reason why Tom Hiddleston’s name was the top of James Bond wishlists for a feverish while there. He’s suave and dangerous as a former soldier turned hotel manager who is recruited by a foreign office agent (Olivia Colman) to infiltrate the entourage of an arms dealer (Hugh Laurie) and his girlfriend (Elizabeth Debicki). A second season is coming this year.

Watch it: Prime Video

LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL

After the success of The Night Manager, the same production company decided to dip in to the Le Carre well again, bringing on Korean auteur Park Chan-wook for this prestige series. It stars Florence Pugh as a 1970s aspiring actor who is recruited by Israeli intelligence in a plot to disrupt a terror plot. It also starred Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Shannon.

Watch it: Digital rental

THE TAILOR OF PANAMA

Le Carre was one of the screenwriters of this 2001 film starring Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis. In this tale, a disgraced operative is banished to Panama where he strongarms a well-connected tailor to spy on the government and its plans for the canal. Fun fact: this was a pre-Harry Potter young Daniel Radcliffe’s first movie role.

Watch it: Digital rental

OUR KIND OF TRAITOR

Starring Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris and Damian Lewis (who would later play real-life Kim Philby-adjacent MI6 spy Nicholas Elliott in A Spy Among Friends), this is based on one of Le Carre’s later tomes. It tells the story of a British couple who befriends a Russian oligarch and are unwittingly caught in a web involving MI6, Moscow and corruption.

Watch it: Britbox

SMILEY’S PEOPLE

Broadcast three years after the publication of Le Carre’s book, this 1982 TV adaptation starred Alec Guinness as George Smiley, reprising his role from the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy series. Smiley had retired by this point but is brought back into the field when one of his former assets is found murdered, and comes across his old nemesis, Karla.

Watch it: Prime Video

THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

Richard Burton and Claire Bloom lead this 1965 adaptation of Le Carre’s novel about the MI6 station chief in West Berlin who fakes his defection to East Germany in order to sow disinformation among the Soviets. Like many of Le Carre’s stories, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold depicts operatives not as heroes but as morally compromised individuals.

Watch it: Digital rental