Tinker,Tailor, Soldier, Spy out on dvd

[kinuta]

At long last this treasure from the BBC is available on dvd. Check out Amazon.uk.

The Beeb seems to be finally opening it's vaults, other lost gems like Tommy Cooper, Hancock and Morcombe & Wise are now available.

[Matthew]

I loved the book -- never realized that the BBC did a series on it, thanks for the heads-up. If you like TTSS, you would love the book The Untouchable by John Banville. It's a book based on the life of Anthony Blunt.

[kinuta]

Alec Guinness is Smiley. it is regarded as among the greatest things ever seen on the BBC, and the supreme adaption of Le Carre to the screen. It has languished in the vaults for years but seems to have been a benefactor of the new Beeb policy of slowly opening the film vaults. Smileys People, also with Guinness , is scheduled for release on dvd soon ! My copy of TTSS is winging it's way to me as I write. I can't wait to watch it.

I have The Untouchable, it's very good.

Edited September 18, 2003 by kinuta

[kinuta]

The 'Smiley Trilogy' is outstandingly good.Without resorting to hyperbole, the best spy novels ever written, period, The third book ' The Honourable Schoolboy', does not feature him in a central role, but it is still first class.

Please follow these with LeCarre's other great book ,' The Perfect Spy'.

Nothing he has written since can compare, he has floundered around looking for themes, but his greatest work was centered on the cold war.

[Shrdlu]

This IS good news. I have really enjoyed that series when it was broadcast.

When I first saw it, on PBS TV in about 1979, we had a baby who frequently interrupted us while we were trying to watch it! It was very difficult to figure out what was going on, with Guinness going on about stuff like "did you see Polyakov in Czechslovakia" and the baby going "Waa, waa, waa" and puking all over the bed. Plus all that abstract string quartet noise grunting in the background.

We have it so easy now. There were no VCRs then, and now we have DVDs. I have this on tape, though, from a recent re-broadcast.

It's about time the TV Tax Company (TTC) opened its vaults. Here's a gem that I would love to get. In about 1989 they showed a four-part bio of Slim Gaillard in their "Arena" series. Once again, I did not have a VCR handy. I would LOVE to see that again. There was a lot of good Vout stuff, and a highlight was "the peanut that went to the moon" - a peanut, in shell, that was said to have been taken to the moon in 1969 by one of the astronauts.

[ghost of miles]

Now it's coming out stateside:

TinkerDVD

A friend of mine has ordered it and we're going to have a Tinker-fest next week. I just finished the book this morning and am on the prowl for the other two books in the trilogy.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

I've had this series sitting in my Netflix queue for about 7 months. Suppose it's time to bump it up to the front of the line.

[kinuta]

Smiley has risen from the digital crypt.

I'm surprised this old thread has resurfaced but sincerely hope Mr Weizen enjoys the show, I'm sure he will.

'Smiley's People' is also available from the BBC. It's a pity they never got round to completing the trilogy with 'The Honourable Schoolboy'.

[medjuck]

I expect they never filmed The Honourable Schoolboy because Smiley isn't central to it and he's sort of a villain in it. (As he is in The Spy Who Came In....). If they were to do more Smiley stories they might do

Call from the Dead (which Sydney Lumet turned into a pretty good movie) or A Murder of Quality.

[BruceH]

I've heard nothing but good things about this miniseries over the years. With Alec Guinness in the Smiley role it's practically a must-have! Got to buy it one of these days. (But there's so much to buy.)

[kinuta]

I expect they never filmed The Honourable Schoolboy because Smiley isn't central to it and he's sort of a villain in it. (As he is in The Spy Who Came In....). If they were to do more Smiley stories they might do

Call from the Dead (which Sydney Lumet turned into a pretty good movie) or A Murder of Quality.

That's true of course. The point about 'The Honourable Schoolboy ' is that it completes the trilogy based on the British duel with Carla.

'A Murder Of Quality' has already been filmed starring Denholm Elliot but it's probably either hard to find or oop.

[kinuta]

I expect they never filmed The Honourable Schoolboy because Smiley isn't central to it and he's sort of a villain in it. (As he is in The Spy Who Came In....). If they were to do more Smiley stories they might do

Call from the Dead (which Sydney Lumet turned into a pretty good movie) or A Murder of Quality.