Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

You weren't followed?

No.

Better come in.

Trust no one, Jim.

Especially not in the mainstream.

Sit down.

I understand you still have

one H ungarian identity running?

I do.

I want you to go to Budapest.

'This is not above board.

'Nobody else knows.

'They're after my head, Jim boy.

'Do you understand?

'I have had an offer of service.

'A Hungarian general

wants to come over.

'I would lik e you to meet him.'

He has some information

that I need, J im.

What information?

Treasure.

'He has the name of the mole

'the Russians have planted

in the British intelligence service

'right at the top of the Circus.

'There's a rotten apple, Jim.

'We have to find it.'

Stop!

Would you witness this for me?

I wish I could done more, Control.

You did all you could, Percy.

Well, a man should know

when to leave the party.

What about Smiley?

Smiley is leaving with me.

You little prick, Esterhase.

Gentlemen, shall we start?

U nder Secretary Lacon

is ready for you, Sir Percy.

The Treasury don't understand.

Why can't the intelligence service

simply put in a request

for a general increase in funding

and then you account

for the spend on your special operation?

Operation Witchcraft

needs to remain secret.

- It's a fiefdom of its own.

- Yes, that's what's worrying us.

The whole thing's

very unaccountable, isn't it?

And this London house

that nobody knows the address of,

is that really necessary?

Now more than ever.

We need to protect our Soviet source.

So where do you propose we meet?

In a caf?

The rent and rates on this house

have doubled.

We spent millions on nuclear warheads.

We're asking

for a few thousand for a house.

I wonder if Karla has the same problem

with the Treasury at the Kremlin.

Look, nobody underestimates

the importance of the job

you chaps are doing.

But what happened

in Budapest last year,

that was a disaster.

With respect, sir,

it wasn't one of your civil servants

that got killed, was it?

Now this isn't about soldiers

in trenches any more.

- We're the front line now...

- Roy!

For 25 years we've been the only thing

standing between them and Karla

and Moscow

and the third bloody world war.

Look, the Minister's very pleased

with your progress so far.

He's less pleased, though,

with the lack of progress

with our American cousins.

You see,

in their eyes,

you're still a leaky ship.

Yes?

'Someone on the line for you, sir.

Seems urgent. '

All right, well put him through.

- Hello?

- 'Ls this U nder Secretary Lacon? '

Yes.

My name's Ricki Tarr.

- 'What do you want? '

- I need to meet you.

If you need to confirm who I am,

you can talk to my boss at the Circus,

Peter Guillam.

But only Guillam, no one else.

You got clearance for that?

Well, I'm not bloody

chaining it up outside.

Mind you, no better off in here

with this bunch of bloody cut-throats.

They'd have the gold out of your teeth.

Thought I'd pop in and catch a glimpse

of the new girl before Bland gets to her.

Ah, yes. Belinda the blonde.

- Has he seen her yet?

- Of course he has.

Came down first thing this morning.

Belinda.

- Peter Guillam.

- 'Hello, Peter, this is Oliver.

'Just ringing to find out...

'So Winston

Churchill saved your life, Edie.'

'I was working in the kitchen,

getting dinner ready.

'And he was late, you see.'

- 'During a raid? '

- 'During a raid, you see.'

'He said,

"Why aren't you in that shelter?"'

- 'Why weren't you? '

- 'Well, because... '

I was sorry to hear

about Control, Mr Smiley.

'He said Tarr called him

from a phone box.'

He said there's a mole,

right at the top of the Circus,

that he's been there for years.

It does mean

you're rather well placed

to look into this matter for us now,

doesn't it?

Outside the family.

I'm retired, Oliver.

You fired me.

The thing is,

some time ago before Control died,

he came to me

with a similar suggestion.

That there is a mole.

He never mentioned

his suspicions to you?

No.

Oh, I just thought that

as you were his man, so to speak...

What did you say to him?

I'm afraid I thought his paranoia

had rather gotten the better of him

and he was going to pull

his whole house down.

That bloody mess in Budapest.

Damn it, George.

It's your generation, your legacy.

I would have thought, if there's

any truth in it, you'd want to...

I'll k eep Peter.

And there's a retired

Special Branch man, Mendel.

I should lik e to have him.

- Lift up.

And quickly down again.

There's a place I know, sir.

A little hotel near Liverpool Street.

Be careful with it. Please.

It's Georgian.

My friend wants peace and quiet

in order to work, Mrs Pope Graham.

No disturbances.

Her real name is just Graham.

Added the Pope for a touch of class.

'Peter, did you get the k eys

to Control's flat? '

# And did those feet in ancient time

# Walk upon England's

mountains green #

Oh!

'George! '

George, get in here!

George.

Sit down.

Tak e a look at this nonsense.

Report by Soviet high command

on their recent naval exercises

in the Black Sea.

Just what the admiralty

has been begging us

for some information on.

- Where did you get this?

- I didn't.

Percy and his little cabal

walk ed in with it.

- Look, Control...

- Shut up.

Style appalling.

Patently a fabrication

from beginning to end.

- Just could be the real thing.

- Well, if it's genuine, it's gold dust.

But its topicality mak es it suspect.

Smiley is suspicious, Percy.

Where did it come from?

What's the access?

A new secret source of mine.

But how could he

possibly have access?

He has access to the most sensitive

levels of policy-making.

We've named the operation Witchcraft.

Oh, Percy and his pals

bypassed us, Smiley.

Gone straight to the minister.

Percy has been allowed to k eep

the identity of his new friend

top secret.

The minister agrees too many secrets

are blown around here.

Too much failure,

too many scandals.

- Too little solid intelligence.

- Percy does have a point, Control.

We should be fighting Communism,

not each other.

Meanwhile we're losing our reputation,

our partners.

Your bloody Yank s!

We've had enough!

There's going to be changes.

We need to decide if want to be

part of the past or part of the future.

I should have left you

where I found you.

- Look!

- Control...

Out, all of you!

If Witchcraft is genuine...

Nothing is genuine any more.

George...

Do you want me to get

this stuff over to the hotel?

Thank you. Er, anywhere will do.

- Peter?

- Hm?

I need you to do something for me.

I'd lik e you to go to the Circus.

'Ln the cabinet

at the duty officers' station

'are records of staff recently retired.

'I'd like photographs of them

'and of the diagram of the Circus's

reorganisation under Percy Alleline,

'along with a list of all payments

made from the Reptile fund.'

- Help you with anything, Bill?

- I was just looking for his Majesty.

Well, he's out walking the battlements.

Oh.

- Heard you had an accident, Peter.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes