Matthew Macfadyen as George Smiley (Image: The Ink Factory/Des Willie)
The first images from ‘Legacy of Spies‘ have arrived, giving us Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) as George Smiley and Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) as Alec Leamas. The BBC and MGM+ released the pictures to mark the end of filming on the eight-part Cold War thriller.
The series adapts John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, while drawing on additional material from his later novel A Legacy of Spies. Macfadyen takes on the role of Smiley, the quietly formidable spymaster, while Hunnam plays Leamas, a world-weary field operative who has spent rather too long in the business of keeping secrets.
The trouble begins when Leamas recruits Doris Quinz, played by Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu (The Empress), to smuggle valuable Stasi documents out of East Germany. That puts them in the sights of two Stasi operatives: Josef Fiedler, played by Daniel Brühl (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and Hans-Dieter Mundt, played by Felix Kammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front). The pair are determined to stop the leak, though their rivalry may make working together almost as difficult as catching the people they are after.
Charlie Hunnam as Alec Leamas (Image: The Ink Factory/Csaba Aknay)
Agnes O’Casey (Ridley Road) plays Liz Gold, whose involvement forces Leamas to reckon with the personal cost of the operation. Smiley is orchestrating events behind the scenes, while the elusive Soviet mastermind Karla looms over the story. In other words, trusting anyone seems like a fairly poor strategy.
The cast also includes Dan Stevens (Legion) as Bill Haydon, Jake Dunn as Peter Guillam, Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts) as Connie Sachs, Charlotte Ritchie (Ghosts) as Ann Smiley, Joe Alwyn (The Favourite) as Jim Prideaux, and Hugh Laurie (House) as Control.
Filming took place principally in the Czech Republic, with additional locations in the UK and Germany. The series is heading to BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, and MGM+ in the US and several other territories. There is no premiere date yet, so we have a little longer to wait before seeing just how badly this operation goes for everyone involved.
‘Legacy of Spies‘ will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, with a date to be announced.
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