I watched 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' and enjoyed it so much that once I'd finished I had to watch its sequel, 'Smiley's People', straight away; having now watched the latter series I must say I found it just as gripping. This time there is no worry about moles in the service; this time Smiley is on the trail of his old Nemesis 'Karla', the Soviet spymaster.
As the story begins Smiley is once again retired but is called in when a defector who has been in London for some time contacts MI6 saying he must talk to Smiley on a matter of the utmost importance. Unfortunately he is killed before he can get to the meeting; the service wants everything to be quietly buried but Smiley believes that the death is worth investigating as the defector would only try to contact him if he had something of vital importance. As he follows the clues he finds evidence of blackmail and just as importantly information that can be used to blackmail others... information that leads him closer and closer to Karla.
Once again Alec Guinness was brilliant as George Smiley; he really inhabited the role. Other cast members also put in fine performances keeping things tense and believable. As with the previous series there isn't a huge amount of action and because of that what there is seems all the more believable. Unlike 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' the action does move about a bit as the trail leads Smiley to Switzerland, this doesn't make the series any less gritty though as none of the scenes take place in the sort of picture postcard locations often favoured by film producers scouting for over seas film locations. If you enjoyed 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' I'm sure you will enjoy this too... it is just a pity that there aren't more stories featuring Alec Guinness as Smiley.
As the story begins Smiley is once again retired but is called in when a defector who has been in London for some time contacts MI6 saying he must talk to Smiley on a matter of the utmost importance. Unfortunately he is killed before he can get to the meeting; the service wants everything to be quietly buried but Smiley believes that the death is worth investigating as the defector would only try to contact him if he had something of vital importance. As he follows the clues he finds evidence of blackmail and just as importantly information that can be used to blackmail others... information that leads him closer and closer to Karla.
Once again Alec Guinness was brilliant as George Smiley; he really inhabited the role. Other cast members also put in fine performances keeping things tense and believable. As with the previous series there isn't a huge amount of action and because of that what there is seems all the more believable. Unlike 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' the action does move about a bit as the trail leads Smiley to Switzerland, this doesn't make the series any less gritty though as none of the scenes take place in the sort of picture postcard locations often favoured by film producers scouting for over seas film locations. If you enjoyed 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' I'm sure you will enjoy this too... it is just a pity that there aren't more stories featuring Alec Guinness as Smiley.