Latest news with #TheSpyWhoCameinfromtheCold
Time Out
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A hit stage adaptation of John Le Carré's classic ‘The Spy Who Came In from the Cold' is heading to London's West End
John Le Carré's 1963 book The Spy Who Came In from the Cold is quite probably the greatest spy novel of all time and certainly one of the greatest works of English literature to come out of the Cold War. A critically acclaimed but film adaptation starring Richard Burton came out in 1965, and a new TV miniseries has allegedly been in the works for years, but it's never really had a truly iconic adaptation a la Le Carré's borderline ubiquitous Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Maybe its first adaptation as a play could be the one. Written by veteran playwright David Eldridge and directed by heavyweight former Headlong boss Jeremy Herrin, this inaugural stage version of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold scored great notices at the prestigious Chichester Festival Theatre last year and now it's heading our way. It stars Irish actor Rory Keenan as hardbitten Cold War spy Alec Leamas – on the cusp of returning from the field after the elimination of his East German network of agents, he's pushed by spymaster George Smilie into just one more job. But as he stages a defection to the other side, matter become hugely complicated when he falls for idealistic librarian Liz Gold. Agnes O'Casey and John Ramm return as Liz and Smilie. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is at @sohoplace, Nov 17-Feb 21 2026.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
My spat with John le Carré over spy novels got ‘physical', says ex-MI6 chief
A former MI6 chief has told how he 'physically' argued with John le Carré for making 'betrayal the currency of espionage' in his spy novels. Sir Richard Dearlove says he thinks 'trust and integrity' is actually 'the stronger currency'. Le Carré, the pen name of David Cornwell, was best known for his Cold War thrillers featuring the spy boss George Smiley, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. His novels regularly featured double agents and 'moles', and he took a dim view of the activities of the British intelligence agencies after his own cover was blown six years into his MI5 and MI6 service. Sir Richard – who was the head of MI6 between 1999 and 2004 – was asked on his One Decision podcast whether it was true that spying was 'sinister' and 'shady'. The 89-year-old replied: 'I think in reality it isn't a reflection of character, it's a reflection maybe of circumstance and that there are occasions that are unavoidable in this profession where the circumstances become sinister and individuals are forced to act in a way which is disconcerting. 'I'm always trying to defend its integrity. For example, the big argument I had with Le Carré, and I did actually physically have it with him, was that he had made betrayal the currency of espionage. 'Of course it is sometimes but the stronger currency of espionage is trust and integrity, because if you're making a betrayal, particularly of an evil empire, the people helping you to make that have got to behave with absolute integrity and trust.' The pair had a public argument in 2019, with Sir Richard hitting out at Le Carré at a literary festival. He called the author a 'counter-intelligence nihilist' and claimed most MI6 officers were 'pretty angry' with him. Le Carré responded by suggesting the spymaster was still angry about the author's opposition to the Iraq war. He said his 'cynicism', as Sir Richard called it, came from the betrayals of double agents George Blake and Kim Philby who between them had caused the deaths, imprisonments or disappearances of thousands of agents. Following Le Carré's death from pneumonia aged 89 in December 2020, Sir Richard once again criticised the writer. He called his novels a 'stain' on the intelligence service and said he had 'tarred the moral reputation of his colleagues'. This was in contrast to high-profile tributes from other intelligence officers, including Richard Moore, the current head of MI6, who called Le Carré a 'giant of literature'. Sir Richard rose through the ranks of MI6 to become the head of the intelligence service, known as C, between 1999 and 2004. His time in charge was marred by controversy over unreliable intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Le Carré became an MI5 officer in 1958, running agents and tapping telephone lines, before moving to MI6 in 1960. His intelligence career came to an end in 1964 when it was discovered that his identity had been exposed by Philby, a member of the Cambridge Five. The ring of spies passed information from the UK to the Soviet Union during the Second World War and the Cold War after being recruited while at the University of Cambridge. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Independent
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Succession star Matthew Macfadyen to play George Smiley in fresh John le Carré adaptation
Matthew Macfadyen has been cast as George Smiley in a new TV series based on the works of spy novelist John Le Carré that will be produced by the late author's sons. The Succession star, 50, will play Carré's most famous intelligence officer in the new show called Legacy of Spies, which will draw plot lines from novels including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, and The Honourable Schoolboy, per Variety and Deadline. Le Carré, who died aged 89 in 2020, was one of the most highly acclaimed espionage writers of our time, drawing on his own experiences in the intelligence sphere in the 1950s and 60s. Alongside his novels, some of Le Carré's unpublished work will be used as material for Legacy of Spies, Variety reports. Macfadyen will join a long line of notable stars who've taken on the role of George Smiley. Gary Oldman, Rupert Davis, Alec Guinness and Denholm Elliott have all previously played the British secret service agent who operated during the cold war. The celebrated actor, who starred in BBC series Spooks, has won two Emmys and two BAFTA awards for his role of Shiv Roy's husband, Tom Wambsgans, on Succession. He's also known for his role as Mr Darcy in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which he recently admitted he thought he'd been miscast for as he wasn't 'dishy enough'. However, in Le Carrés first novel, Call for the Dead, Smiley is described as anything but dishy, with the author writing: 'Short, fat, and of a quiet disposition, he appeared to spend a lot of money on really bad clothes, which hung about his squat frame like skin on a shrunken toad.' Call For The Dead was published in 1961, while A Murder Of Quality was published the following year. News of the new series comes after Oldman's manager Douglas Urbanski revealed to Radio Times in September that Le Carré's sons had blocked a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy sequel starring the actor as Smiley. 'We've reached out … to le Carré's sons and – the damnedest thing – they have no interest in Gary playing Smiley again. I don't know why,' he said at the time. Urbanski's confusion may be solved with news of the new series, which will be executive produced by Silo creator Graham Yost and has already been pitched to multiple interested buyers in the UK and US, Variety reports. Smiley's real breakthrough came in 1963 with The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, which told the story of Alec Leamas, an aging British intelligence agent forced to carry out one last operation in Berlin. Writing in The Guardian on the novel's 50th anniversary, Cornwell said: "I wrote The Spy Who Came In From The Cold at the age of 30 under intense, unshared, personal stress, and in extreme privacy. "As an intelligence officer in the guise of a junior diplomat at the British Embassy in Bonn, I was a secret to my colleagues, and much of the time to myself." Leamas was played in a 1965 film version by Richard Burton.
The Guardian
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Matthew Macfadyen to play George Smiley in new John le Carré TV show
Matthew Macfadyen has been cast as George Smiley in a new TV series based on the novels of John le Carré that will be produced by the late author's sons. Various trade publications including Variety and Deadline reported on Thursday that the 50-year-old Succession star will play le Carré's most famous spook in a TV show called Legacy of Spies, which will draw on storylines from several novels, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy. Le Carré's bestselling novels were inspired by the author's own experience of working for British intelligence in the 1950s and 60s. Some unpublished work by le Carré – the pen name of David Cornwell, who died aged 89 in 2020 – will also be used in the show, Variety reported. Legacy of Spies – drawing on the title of the final Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies – will be produced by The Ink Factory, a production company founded by two of le Carré's four sons, Stephen and Simon Cornwell. The Cornwells also produced the award-winning adaptation of his novel The Night Manager, and are currently working on two sequel series to the hit show. If Legacy of Spies goes ahead, Macfadyen – known for his performances as Tom Wambsgans in Succession and Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice – will join hallowed ranks: Gary Oldman, Rupert Davies, Alec Guinness and Denholm Elliott have all portrayed Smiley on screen. A middle-aged, podgy, balding man described by his own wife as 'breathtakingly ordinary', Smiley is also a ruthlessly clever spymaster working in the British secret service during the cold war. 'Short, fat, and of a quiet disposition, he appeared to spend a lot of money on really bad clothes, which hung about his squat frame like skin on a shrunken toad,' le Carré wrote in the first Smiley novel, Call for the Dead. Playing short might be a challenge for Macfadyen, who is 1.91 metres tall. Le Carré was very fond of Guinness's portrayal of Smiley in 1979's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and 1982's Smiley's People, once saying that he 'so beautifully represented Smiley and left the character intact'. He also reportedly enjoyed Oldman's 'beautiful performance' in the 2011 Tinker Tailor. But a sequel starring Oldman was reportedly blocked by le Carré's sons, with Oldman's manager Douglas Urbanski telling the Radio Times in September: 'We've reached out … to le Carré's sons and – the damnedest thing – they have no interest in Gary playing Smiley again. I don't know why.' The explanation may well be the new show, which Variety reports has already been shopped around to various interested buyers in the US and UK.
