TV Cream

TV: T is for...

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

There are three of them, and AllelineALEC GUINNESS unearths a mole in the British Secret Service very very slowly, mostly by talking abstractedly about lamplighters and ju-ju men, while MICHAEL JAYSTON steals dodgy dossiers, GEORGE SEWELL watches the door, ANTHONY BATE worries about “the minister”, BERYL REID gets pissed, SIAN PHILLIPS has a lie-in until the very last scene and Seymour off of LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE repeatedly lights a pipe. BERNARD HEPTON, TERENCE RIGBY and IAN RICHARDSON sweated. IAN BANNEN got chased through the Czechoslovakian woods by dogs. Oh, and Control (ALEXANDER KNOX) goes mental. A masterpiece.

Click to comment

0 Comments

  1. Mags

    June 4, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    People seem to go on about the end credits music of that choir singing as a Brilliant bit of television music but surely the best music is in the opening sequence with the Russian dolls.

  2. Peter

    June 5, 2009 at 8:25 pm

    I agree. The opening music is superb. The only place I can find it, though, is on Youtube.

  3. TV Cream

    June 5, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    Looks like it’s on iTunes, if you do a search for Geoffrey Burgon.

  4. Mags

    June 13, 2009 at 2:20 pm

    Thank you, I also found it on the ‘South American River’ site. Burgon seems to have written some of the most beautiful drama themes, Brideshead, Narnia, Bleak House. Why is he not more well known?

  5. Richard16378

    March 27, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    Really gripping stuff, & also fun to play “Been In Dr Who” if you’re a TV buff.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

To Top