Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Starring Bernard Hepton as George Smiley (BBC Radio Collection)
Interesting spin on the theme - This radio dramatization was released in 1989, and presumablyalso broadcast at about that time, approximately 10 years afterthe TV miniseries with Alec Guinness appeared. (The linernotes are silent on this question.)The dramatization is by René Basilico, who also have writtenadaptations of Aliens in the Mind and Travels with my Aunt,and later also dramatized the sequel Smiley s People.Bernard Hepton, who played Toby Esterhase in the TV series,leads as George Smiley. The remaining the actors are largelyunfamiliar to me: James Grout (as Percy Alleline), Charles Kay(Toby Esterhase), Edward de Souza (Bill Haydon), William Simons(Roy Bland), Christian Rodska (Ricky Tarr), Alan MacNaughtan(as Control), Douglas Blackwell (Peter Guillam), etc. but areprobably reasonably familiar to british TV viewers.The production comes on two audio cassettes of approximately45 minutes each side for a total of 3 hours. There are no obviousbreaks in the performance, so the usual on and off announcementsmust have been removed. This makes it somewhat difficult to listento: 45 minutes is either too little or too much.I was pleasantly surprised how unfamiliar this dramatisation seems:the writer has used somewhat different material from the book,structured it more sequentially, and also added some minorvariation to help the listener over some of the problemsassociated with a radio performance.It stays closer to the book, too, in some respects: Max, Jim sbabysitter in Czechoslovakia, is here, as is Millie McCraig, thehousekeeper of Merlin s safehouse, and the owner of the housewhere Ricky Tarr is kept hidden, Mrs Brimley, takes on morepersonality than in the TV series and even the book.It s difficult to imagine anyone else than Alec Guinness as GeorgeSmiley now. Bernard Hepton seems a bit more active in the role,which helps make this something more than just a repeat. The otheractors are competent enough, even if the roles of Toby and Ricky seema shade too close to the TV performances. Percy Alleline, on the otherhand, is a quite different take than the self-satisfied smoothie ofMichael Aldridge.On the whole, a very nice performance, and very well worth listeningto. The only drawback I can think of is the absence of original episodestructure.
Tinker Tailor - To anyone who has not experienced a full dramatization, try this one. After many years of listening to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it is the one title that I can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone with a love of the English language and of drama that leaves the listner imagine the set. The problem with a television adaptation of a theme or of a film version of a book, is that we are seeing an individual s interpretation of the events described. Spoonfed! The difference with all of these excellent dramatizations, and with Tinker Tailor in particular, is that we are allowed to invent the scenery in our minds eye, to see the expressions, or just listen to a facinating story unfolding in the hands of people who really care, and who are at the peak of their craft. My hope is that many more people will find the same pleasure we have enjoyed for the past few years, and that the financial success of this format of media entertainment will be a guarantee of more excellent porductions to come.
A masterful reading which does full justice to the novel - Having read the classic spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Sailor, Spy,I was convinced that it could not be effectively transferred to any media besides screen. I was therefore pleasantly surprised by the effective and erudite interpretation given to the tortured characters at the centre of this, perhaps one of the most poignant and human spy novels. This is undoubtedly worth buying, as the reader evokes the full horror of the Cold War even more than the novel from which it is taken. Truly, it kept me awake at night.