Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is still to this day one of the best mini-series I've seen. Hearing nothing but good things about Smiley's People I was strongly anticipating it. And I found it every bit as good. It is visually beautiful while staying true to the period, and the atmosphere that is evoked is both tense and melancholic. Smiley's People's music is haunting and doesn't fall into the trap of being too low-key or overbearing, the story is just as complex with a strong (poignant) moral ambiguity and the writing is very clever and intelligent. The camera work is stylishly done too, a number of times I would never have thought it was made for TV, likewise with the direction. With a series of this length, I was impressed by how much effort was made into making the audience care about the characters and how great the acting was. I love Eileen Atkins and she was in my view excellent. Alec Guiness is mesmerising in one of his best and most iconic roles. All in all, I loved it, it was every bit as good as Tinker, Tailor... and considering how justifiably magnificent that is, that's quite a feat. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Review of Smiley's People
