The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas

BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

By: John le Carré

Narrated by: full cast, Simon Russell Beale

The complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carré's best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley. With a star cast including Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville and Lindsay Duncan, these enthralling dramatisations perfectly capture the atmosphere of le Carré's taut, thrilling spy novels. 'Call for the Dead' is the first Smiley novel, which sees him looking into an apparent suicide only to uncover a murderous conspiracy; 'A Murder of Quality' finds Smiley investigating a murder in a private school; 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' introduces Alec Leamas, a British intelligence officer whose East Berlin network is in tatters; 'The Looking Glass War' features former spy Fred Leiser, lured back from retirement to investigate a claim that Soviet missiles are being installed close to the West German border; 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' is the first book in the Karla trilogy, and sees Smiley searching for a mole who has infiltrated the Circus; 'The Honourable Schoolboy' sees Smiley determined to destroy his nemesis, Karla, and his spy networks; 'Smiley's People' finds George Smiley called out of retirement to exorcise some Cold War ghosts from his clandestine past; and 'The Secret Pilgrim' sees Smiley invited to dine with the eager new recruits at the Circus. He offers them his thoughts on espionage and, in doing so, prompts a former colleague to re-examine his own eventful secret life.

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Le Carre the Great

I have been following John LeCarre for decades as he has taken me through his great literary works. He is such a master at human character and so embacive of human nature, and skillfully communicates about these characteristics: how a professional, or someone who should be a professional and isn't quite, or a lay person caught up in less that survival circumstances, and you name it; how mankind acts and reacts together in situations where necessity level is very real and is the main element to get one through that situation. These things and more were there for me in this set and it compelled me to listen, learn and love. the narration and full cast dramatization of these writings was a complete treat and such an augmentation to already incredible work very well done by JLC!

“AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

Wonderful

Great performances and great stories, all. Once I finished, I wanted to start all over again.

A Fine Compilation

The BBC radio dramatizations of the Smiley novels are great. Simon Russell Beale carries the part of Smiley with understated skill , and the other voice actors are (with a few clinkers, typically trying to do American accents) first rate as well. Most of the stories are from the top of the spy genre, though, as with any compilation there are favorites. For me, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is still my pick for perhaps the best book that Le Carré ever did. But I'm sure you'll find your own favorite.

Utterly engrossing

The absolute best of the BBC Radio Drama department - these stories were exquisitely produced and taughtly written. The casting was exemplary, the music thoughtfully placed and the whole series an absolute joy to listen to.

My own only grievience was that it ended.

So so so happy I added this to my library.

Utterly compelling

Where does The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Definitely in the top tier

What other book might you compare The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas to and why?

In the pantheon of BBC productions, this ranks with their Lord of the Rings.

What does full cast and Simon Russell Beale bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

George Smiley is such a wonderfully complex character, so frail in some ways and so utterly strong and humane in others. Beale's performance captured this in a way that brings le Carre's masterwork out of the page.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

It's been done, it wasn't as good.

Any additional comments?

The Bbc is justly famous for their radio productions of literature. The entire cast of this sprawling production is excellent, the music is precisely right, the audio production is, of course, beyond compare. All that serves to bring forth a story that was already amazing. I had read the Tinker Tailor books, but the performances here are now my definitive version.