George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.

Siân Phillips, Alec Guinness, Michael Jayston, Anthony Bate, George Sewell, Bernard Hepton, Ian Richardson, Hywel Bennett, Terence Rigby, Ian Bannen, Michael Aldridge, Alec Sabin, Alexander Knox, Beryl Reid, Joss Ackland, Warren Clarke, Thorley Walters, John Standing, Patrick Stewart