SMILEY'S PEOPLE {EPISODE 3} (TV)
Summary
The third installment in this six-part miniseries about retired British spy George Smiley and his reluctant return to the world of espionage, based on the 1979 novel by John le Carré.
In this episode, as a battered Ostrakova departs the hospital, Smiley catches up with "Hector," a.k.a. Toby Esterhase, now running a somewhat disreputable art gallery. He blithely suggests that Vladimir's death was suicide, though Smiley states that, according to Mikhel, Esterhase and Vladimir had fallen out shortly before his death, suggesting that he could be a suspect. Esterhase reveals that Vladimir had "put up a distress rocket" and requested a secret meeting a fortnight ago, but Esterhase had declined to transport the small object, the negative, to Smiley. Smiley asks about the "creep" Leipzig, wondering if Oleg Kirov, a Soviet agent whom Leipzig had been pursuing, could be the other man in the photo. Esterhase explains that Leipzig had been allied with Claus Kretzschmar, who owns a seedy Hamburg nightclub, the Blue Diamond. Smiley, now all the more confident of Karla's involvement, shows Ostrakova's letter regarding "the Magician" to Esterhase.
Rookie agent Ferguson is tasked with warning Smiley off of continuing his investigation, but Smiley ignores the messages and travels to a remote farm to meet with Connie Sachs, an elderly former Circus agent whose fatal illness has not affected her exceptional memory. He tells about her about Vladimir's fateful "Sandman" comment. Upon expecting the photo, Sachs explains that Kirov once betrayed his old school friend Leipzig, prompting Leipzig to track him down and falsely befriend him again many years later for intelligence purposes. She adds that Kirov sent his own mistress to the Gulag after their unsuccessful "Pygmalion games," and then hid their "bonkers" daughter, Tatiana, in a mental hospital.
Smiley then heads to the Blue Diamond and, introducing himself by his pseudonym "Max," questions Kretzschmar about Leipzig. Kretzschmar, though suspicious of "Max's" lack of evidence, admits that Leipzig took the fall for him for a long-ago crime and went to prison. After receiving a long letter from Vladimir, Leipzig called in his favor from Kretzschmar and brought his "target," Kirov, to the Blue Diamond. There, Kretzschmar took the blackmail photo and secretly recorded their conversations. Kretzschmar adds that he has not seen Leipzig since, but offers Smiley his current address. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: BBC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 NaN:NaN
- RUNNING TIME: 0:52:34
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:05647
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Spies; Murder; Cold War
- SERIES RUN: BBC - TV series, 1982
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jonathan Powell … Producer
- Simon Langton … Director
- John le Carré … Writer
- John Hopkins … Writer
- Patrick Gowers … Music by
- Alec Guinness … Cast, George Smiley
- Mario Adorf … Cast, Claus Kretzschmar
- Eileen Atkins … Cast, Madame Ostrakova
- Bernard Hepton … Cast, Toby Esterhase
- Beryl Reid … Cast, Connie Sachs
- Vladek Sheybel … Cast, Otto Leipzig (The Magician)
- Michael Byrne … Cast, Peter Guillam
- Barry Foster … Cast, Saul Enderby
- Bill Paterson … Cast, Lauder Strickland
- Norma West … Cast, Hillary
- Vass Anderson … Cast, Mr. Carson
- Andrew Bradford … Cast, Ferguson
- William Wilde … Cast, 'Blue Diamond' Waiter
- Germaine Delbat … Cast, Madame La Pierre
- Jacques Maury … Cast, Sergei
- Tusse Silberg … Cast, Alexandra
- Tessy Kuhls … Cast, Frau Kretzschmak
- Lucy Fleming … Cast, Molly Meakin
- Carl Duering … Cast, Walther
- Jonathan Burn … Cast, Edmonds
- Caroline Sihol … Cast, Marie-Claire Guillam
- Michael Feldman … Cast, Stango
- Jean Champion … Cast, Monsieur La Pierre
- Marie-Helene Daste … Cast, Madame Delbarre
- Georges Hubert … Cast, Monsieur Delbarre
- Guy Standeven … Cast, British Embassy Official
- Frank Crompton … Cast, Circus Janitor
- Vladimir Tihomiroff … Cast, Russian Agent
- Alain Serres … Cast, Russian Agent
- Alexander Koumpan … Cast, Russian Agent
- Cristiane Carstens … Cast, Young Woman
- Maithias Ditner … Cast, Young Man
- Ralph Richter … Cast, Young Man at Water Camp
- Jan Fedder … Cast, Young Man at Water Camp
- Elisabeth Goebel … Cast, Woman at Water Camp
- Edeltrand Samland … Cast, Girl at Water Camp
- Nina Zuckerman … Cast, Art Gallery Receptionist
- Robin Langford … Cast, 'Blue Diamond' Receptionist
- Jeffrey Kime … Cast, Paris Ambulance Driver
- Catherine Erhardy … Cast, Ambulance Driver's Girlfriend
- Serge Berry … Cast, Paris Policeman
- Alex Buchanan … Cast, Cabaret Performer
- Venetia Day … Cast, Cabaret Performer
- Susie Silvey … Cast, Cabaret Performer
- Cindy Shelley … Cast, Cabaret Performer