Name: George Smiley.
Age: It was once observed that Smiley is “one of those ashen Englishmen, like the poet Philip Larkin, who seem to be permanently 60 years old”.
Appearance: Small, podgy, balding, glasses – often compared to a toad or a mole.
Occupation: British intelligence officer, working for “The Circus”.
MI6, in other words, and a spy. Correct, on both counts.
John le Carré, right? Right. The character, a sort of anti-Bond, was introduced in the author’s first novel, Call for the Dead, published in 1961. He went on to be the central character in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People, as well as appearing in other novels including The Spy Came Who Came in from the Cold. Oh, and he’s in the new novel, Karla’s Choice.
Excuse me? Er, didn’t David Cornwell (le Carré’s real name) die in 2020? He did, but his character lives on, in the hands of JLC’s son Nicholas Cornwell, who writes as Nick Harkaway and who has written a new espionage novel featuring, you guessed it, George Smiley.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Ghost! Or The Spy Who Came in from the Cold … Again? Actually the new novel, due out next month, is set during the decade that comes between the end of TSWCIFTC and TTSS. So he can still be permanently 60 years old, rather than about 110.
And of course George Smiley has been portrayed on screen also. Most famously and most masterfully by Alec Guinness in two BBC series, in 1979 and 1982. More recently by Gary Oldman in the 2011 film adaptation of Tinker Tailor.
Also good, no? Oldman was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor. Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw was impressed, as was le Carré. “I love the movie, love your Smiley … it’s a beautiful performance,” he wrote in an email to Oldman. Others may be less keen …
Which others? David Cornwell’s sons.
Nick? Also Simon Cornwell, a film producer.
And how has this lukewarmness manifested itself? So Gary Oldman was all set – and psyched – to appear in the sequel but reportedly found himself blocked.
The Actor Left Out in the Cold …? “We’ve reached out … to le Carré’s sons and – the damnedest thing – they have no interest in Gary playing Smiley again,” Oldman’s manager Douglas Urbanski told the Radio Times. “I don’t know why.”
What do Nick and Simon say? At the time of writing, nothing – though they might have quoted from Smiley’s People: “In the spook business, nothing is as it seems. Ever.” Same with the book business, and film business, perhaps.
Do say: “No matter, Gary, you’re great in Slow Horses, which everyone loves, and there’s a new season of that.”
Don’t say: “Not so smiley now, are you, Gary … ”