Original subtitles

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 Hungarian 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.

You understand?

I have had an offer of service.

A Hungarian general wants to come over.

I would like you to meet him.

He has some information that I need, Jim.

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.

And porkolts, you know porkolts?

Yes, I've had it.

It's very good. Better than goulash. But you won't get it in Budapest now.

Why's that?

All the pigs have gone to Moscow!

When will I meet your friend?

He will turn up any moment now.

Would you excuse me for a moment?

Stop!

Stop! Stop the operation!

What the hell are you doing there? Secure the street exit!

Put your gun away!

You fucking Hungarian amateurs! I told you, secure the street exit!

Look at what you've done, idiots!

Why are you all moving? Stay in your positions.

We wanted him alive!

Would you witness this for me?

I wish I could have 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?

Under 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 cafe?

The rent and rates on this house have doubled.

They 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 you civil servants that got killed, was it?

Now this isn't about soldiers in trenches anymore.

- 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?

Is this Under 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, probably no better off in here

with this bunch of bloody cutthroats.

They'd have the gold out of your teeth.

Thought I'd pop down 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.

On one occasion, Winston Churchill

actually saved your life.

He did. I was working in the kitchen, yes.

Getting dinner ready and he was late.

During a raid?

During the raid, you see. He said, why aren't you in that shelter?

- Why weren't you? - Well...

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?

Well, I'm afraid I thought his paranoia

had rather gotten the better of him

and he was gonna 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 this,

then you'd want to...

I'll keep Peter.

And there's a retired Special Branch man, Mendel.

I should like to have him.

There's a place I know, sir. Little hotel near Liverpool Street.

Be careful with it. Please.

It's Georgian.

My friend just 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 keys to Control's flat?

George!

George, get in here!

George.

Sit down.

Take 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 walked 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 makes 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.

Well, Percy and his pals bypassed us, Smiley.

Gone straight to the Minister.

Percy has been allowed to keep the identity of his new friend top secret.

The Minister agrees with me that 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 Yanks!

And we've had enough! There's going to be changes.

We need to decide if we 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 anymore.

George.

Do you want me to get this stuff over to the hotel?

Thank you. Anywhere will do.

Peter? I need you to do something for me.

I'd like you to go to the Circus.

In 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'

reorganization under Percy Alleline.

Along with the list of all payments made from the Reptile Fund.

There is a café on the corner at the Albert Hall.

Yes. At quarter to four.

No, I don't have time for that.

I know... I know what it looks like.

Help you with anything, Bill?

I was just looking for His Majesty.

Well, he's out walking the battlements.

Much obliged.

Heard you had an accident, Peter.

Yeah, I cut my hand open on a drawer.

When are you gonna get some new furniture around here?

I'll have a word with Esterhase.

We'll make it a priority on the top floor.

Where are you off to?

Lunch.

Want some company?

According to the personnel files,

seven were due for retirement anyway.

Then there's another four that don't seem particularly mysterious.

Jerry Westerby was dismissed December 4th.

Connie Sachs retired November 28th.

That's just two weeks after you and Control were forced out.

Return to Oxford, please.

That's one-fifteen.

Percy has always resisted any proposal

of a wider exploitation of Witchcraft's intelligence.

Drop the bloody jargon, Lacon.

I've refused to share Witchcraft

with our allies so far, Minister.

Greedy boy.

My goal has been to establish his track record beyond all doubt.

I think the time has come to approach our American brothers-in-arms.

Will they take us back into bed?

Not interested in a one-off trade.

I want on-going access to American intelligence.

You think we can get it?

With Witchcraft on our side, I think

we can get anything we bloody well want.

Fine.

Carry on.

Thank you.

Oh, I...

Not supposed to. Doctor's orders.

Wicked, wicked George.

I don't know about you, George,

but I feel seriously under-fucked.

I heard Ann left you again.

She doesn't deserve you, George. Not one hair on your head...

You left the Circus shortly after I retired.

I didn't leave. I was dismissed.

Chucked out on the rubbish heap

like you.

Why?

Polyakov.

Do you remember him?

From the Soviet Embassy?

Aleksey Polyakov.

Cultural Attaché here in London.

When he arrived here 15 years ago, I requested he be checked out.

He was graded whiter than white. Didn't put a foot wrong.

But you disagreed?

There's a story you must have heard

that Karla has set up a secret cell.

The personnel are all ex-military,

trained to handle deep penetration agents.

- Moles. - There were always stories, Connie.

But what if this story was true?

One night in Research, I saw something, George.

There was our friend Polyakov at a May Day parade in Berlin

receiving a salute.

Why would you salute a Cultural Attaché?

Exactly.

Unless he was a war veteran himself.

And if he was, why hide the fact?

What did you do?

I went straight to Esterhase and Alleline.

Here.

Polyakov is a Karla-trained hood if ever I saw one.

And if he's here, it must be because he's running a mole.

You're to leave Polyakov alone.

You're becoming obsessed with him.

You're losing your sense of proportion, Connie.

But that's ridiculous.

Perhaps it's time you went out into the real world.

What does it matter? Old Circus is gone anyway.

Here we are.

The Nursery in our day.

Jim Prideaux and Bill Haydon.

Together, of course.

The Inseparables.

There's Control himself.

All my boys.

All my lovely boys.

That was a good time, George.

It was the war, Connie.

A real war.

Englishmen could be proud then.

So I was right then?

About Polyakov.

There is a mole?

If it's bad, don't come back.

I want to remember you all as you were.

Percy?

Percy, did you mix this?

Aye. I did so.

You Calvinistic, penny-pinching Scot.

Can you not learn to take a bloody order?

Nobody tampers with the recipe.

I followed the recipe.

Take us five hours to get drunk on this monkey's piss.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

The day after Khrushchev's resignation.

He is at home. Suddenly the telephone rings.

Silence...

Hello? I am listening. Silence.

Speak! I am listening.

The reply is, you should have listened a long time ago, dear.

Courtesy of Mrs. P.

You been up all night?

Yes.

What's this?

Request for £1,000 in cash from the Reptile Fund.

To a Mr. Ellis.

It was one of Jim Prideaux's work names.

Prideaux was killed in Hungary a year ago. October 21st.

So why was someone giving him £1,000 two months later?

I wonder where he is then, sir?

Where's that bloody car? We can't lose him! Move it!

Settle down now.

- Hand those out. - Sir.

What is it? The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

The bells, the bells...

Come here.

- What's your name? - Roach. Bill Roach, sir.

- I'm a new boy. - New arrival, eh?

What's the story?

My mother and father.

My father left, sir.

Bill, the unpaid Bill.

Anyone ever call you that?

No, sir.

Known a lot of Bills in my time.

They've all been good'uns.

What you good at?

Nothing, sir.

You're a good watcher though, eh?

Us loners always are.

Best watcher in the unit, Bill Roach is, I'll bet.

- Long as he's got his specs on. Right? - Yes, sir.

This is good. Very good.

Hello, Ricki.

You missed the wedge.

Where have you been, Ricki?

They're gonna kill me.

- Who is? - Your lot.

Or their lot. Whoever gets me first.

I'm innocent.

Within reason.

How long have you been here?

Sorry, I've run out of places now.

I needed to see you.

Why?

There's a woman.

I need you to trade for her. I need you to get her back off Karla.

A woman?

Her name's Irina.

This was last November.

Mr. Guillam sent me to Istanbul to

check out some Russian trade delegate

who might be persuaded to defect.

- Tufty Thesinger, resident? - Yeah.

- Hiya, Ricki. - All right, mate?

- Did you know him? - No, I never met him.

Bit of a drinker.

Hangover from hell.

Bit of a fucking idiot.

Apparently this Russian, name of Boris,

was spending high and wide in the nightclubs.

- So you were sent to persuade this Boris? - Yeah.

He was your typical Russian.

Trade delegation by day, out boozing every night.

Didn't seem to sleep.

Tufty was worn out from following him around.

Think it's gonna be a long night, son.

His favorite haunt was this club in Taksim.

It had a hellhole in the basement

where the sailors and the tourists went.

Anyway, I took one look at him and I knew I'd done wasted a journey.

Boris was no delegate.

What delegate bothers to play drunker than he really is?

You get to recognize your own, don't you, Mr. Smiley?

And Boris was a hood.

Moscow Center-trained.

I guessed he was waiting for a connect.

Working a letterbox maybe.

Or trailing his coat and looking for a pass from some mug like me.

So, second night I went to the import/export outfit that Tufty had set up.

Thank you.

With a cypher room hidden in the back.

And I cabled "no sale" to Mr. Guillam.

And that was that.

- You were due to fly home the next day. - Yes.

But you didn't.

Boris had a wife. Common law.

Apparently she was a member of the delegation in her own right.

You once told me to trust my instincts about women, Mr. Smiley.

Well, my instincts told me this woman had some treasure.

When Boris went out for the night,

I found myself going into her hotel.

- So, you dropped Boris? - I know,

it was breaking protocol.

But I was acting on my own initiative as it were.

Your man's a bit of a bastard, isn't he?

I just wanted to make sure that you were all right. Okay?

So, you didn't come home?

I would have.

Boris was a dead end, but...

I could...

I could sense something in her.

A secret.

And how did you intend to get

this secret out of her?

I played this businessman, Michael Trench.

Holiday romance.

I thought I'd take my time with it.

Cheers.

I know who you are.

I want to talk to your boss.

Control.

I have something to trade.

Something big.

I want a new life in the West.

That's the deal.

You tell them.

Look, you can't expect them to jump

at every offer of service, you know.

If you won't tell me more, there is nothing I can do.

If I tell you everything,

I'm putting my life in your hands.

The lives of other people.

So she told me what she had to trade.

Her secret.

I mean,

the mother of all secrets.

I told her I'd alert the Circus,

and she made me promise that I wouldn't give any of the details to London.

- And you agreed? - Yes.

I mean, it was...

I couldn't believe I'd got hold of something this big.

I went back to the import/export.

Sent the message to the Circus graded "Flash - Highest Priority".

Just that I had a Moscow trained hood wanting to defect.

You're supposed to have gone.

London stations have been on to me.

Want to know what the hell you're doing.

Fuck off.

Anything else, Ricki?

I know what I am to the Circus. I'm one of the scalp hunters.

Someone that you can hand your dirty little jobs to.

I just...

I just wanted to bring this one in myself.

Well, I understand how you felt.

You wanted to do something.

I said that she claimed to have information

vital to the safeguarding of the Circus.

Anything more?

I said that she had information concerning a double agent.

Look, I just wanted to get the proper attention.

I told 'em that this was the reason why I had not come home.

It wasn't that I'd defected or anything.

- What did you do then? - I waited for a reply.

I hung around for hours. I remember hearing the Imsak call to prayer.

So what's that? That's about 3:30 in the morning.

Then a message comes through.

We read you.

That was all they said. Nothing.

It didn't make sense. It was like they were stalling.

Then what happened?

Then,

all of a sudden the Russians begin to move.

It was nice work. I couldn't have done it better myself.

The message was quite clear.

I needed to warn her.

Hassan, can I use your phone?

Yeah, you can use that one.

Come on, come on, come on.

I looked for her everywhere.

I couldn't find her at the airport.

I even looked through all the flight lists...

and I headed down to the harbor.

They put her on a ship to Odessa.

That's all I know.

I've...

Now I've done a lot of things in my life, Mr. Smiley, but...

I just... I can't stop thinking about her.

She wasn't even my type.

I've gotta get her out, I owe her that.

Karla will be looking for you.

Yeah, everybody's looking for me.

You can't stay here.

It isn't safe.

And I said, you may fuck me, but you

still have to call me sir in the morning.

Okay.

Just need to let you know,

someone flew into Paris last week

on one of our escaped passports.

And?

It was Ricki Tarr.

Why are you telling me?

Well, it could be coincidence, but...

You really are a poison dwarf, Toby.

Why don't you fuck off to His Majesty

and stop trying to involve me in your little cabaret.

Mr. Esterhase, it could be coincidence, but...

Mr. Haydon interrupting, you really are a poison dwarf, Toby.

Why don't you fuck off to His Majesty

and stop trying to involve me in your little cabaret.

You look tired.

I didn't sleep well.

You're going to do something for me, Peter.

I need the duty officer's log book for last November.

I'm going to have to send you up a floor, into the lions' den.

If you're caught,

you can't mention me.

I'm sorry, but you're alone.

Last November.

Mr. Guillam.

Thank you, Bryant.

- How's the family? - Fine.

- Need to go up to the registry today. - Okay, sir.

Now you'll need a yellow one for the bag, sir.

Thank you.

- Good morning, Mr. Guillam. - Morning, Alwyn.

Want me to look after that for you?

Thank you.

I'll need your chit, Mr. Guillam.

Dolphin'll kill me if I don't. New rules.

So, chit me.

Thanks.

Sal, what a lovely surprise.

Peter.

What are you up to this weekend?

You know, visiting aunts.

I'll bet.

Corridor D. The two-eights are halfway on your right.

- The three-ones are next alcove down. - Thanks.

Here's a request from Libby Barr from Bromley

for Mr. Wu's a Window Cleaner Now.

Take it away, George.

Hello, Archive. Alwyn speaking.

Yes, can I speak to Mr. Guillam, please?

Yeah, I'm his car mechanic.

Well, I'll just see if he's available. Hold on, please.

Mr. Wu, what shall I do?

- Oh, Christ. - Telephone, sir.

- Who is it? - Outside line, sir. Someone rough.

Sir.

- Hello? - Your gearbox is bust, sir.

Damn it, can't you fix the bloody thing?

No, can't be done, sir. Afraid you're gonna need a new gearbox.

Well, phone the main dealership first, will you?

- Have you got their number? - No.

Hang on. Alwyn.

- Alwyn? - Sir?

Get me my bag, will you? Just for a second.

Thank you.

Hang on.

- Hello? - I'm listening.

- Yes. 946-0335. Thank you. - Be right on it, sir.

Peter Guillam. Could we see you, please?

Percy would like quite an urgent word with you.

If you can come now to the fifth floor that would be so kind.

- Thank you. - Yes, of course.

You might throw that into the lift for me, Alwyn.

Send it to the second floor, save me filling out more bloody chits.

Will do, sir.

So, what have you been getting up to down there these days?

Apart from chasing our virgins.

Couple of Arab ploys that look quite promising.

Apart from that, I'm getting quite good at ping-pong.

Arabs. You can rent one but you can't buy one. Right, Bill?

How's Ricki Tarr these days?

Fine. We have tea at Fortnum's every afternoon.

I require the matter of your discussion with Tarr.

I'll tell him, he'll be thrilled.

What's that shrug for?

I'm talking to you about the traitor

who cut the throat of our man in Istanbul.

I'm talking to you about a defector from your own damn section.

I'm accusing you of consorting with an enemy agent behind my back.

Don't damn well shrug at me!

How'd you like a term in prison?

Well, I haven't been seeing him.

So get your facts straight and get off my back!

So, if I told you Tarr had recently arrived in Paris,

would you be surprised?

No, nothing would surprise me about Ricki Tarr.

And if I told you we happen to know

£30,000 mysteriously appeared in his bank account last month,

would that surprise you?

Your man's a defector, Guillam.

Got turned by the opposition months ago

and now they've sent him back to us.

- What for? - Never mind what for.

To muddy the water, that's what for.

Spread a whole lot of damn nonsense to get us chasing our tails.

The point is this. He's heading for home.

The first peep from him, you come to the grown-ups. Understood?

Anyone you see around this table but not another damn soul.

Get out.

Peter?

Thank you, Belinda.

Oh, Mr. Wu, what shall I do

And Mr. Wu's a window cleaner...

Oh, Mr. Wu, what shall I do

All go smoothly, did it?

Need to go to the hotel to see George.

Mr. Smiley isn't at the hotel, sir. Change of venue.

George?

Mr. Guillam.

Sorry it took me so long to come home.

Ricki has been helping us, Peter.

He's been telling us all about his adventures.

He's a double, George. There is no mole.

Whole thing's been thought up by Moscow.

Karla bought him for £30,000.

I stole that because of you.

I spied on my own because of him.

Do you know how that makes me feel?

Ricki, you said you sent the Circus

a telegram concerning Irina's information.

- That's right. - What was the date?

He doesn't know the date because there was no telegram.

- The whole thing is a fabrication. - 20th of November.

It must have been the 20th of November evening.

November 20th is missing.

Someone is covering their tracks, Peter. Unless, of course,

you think that's just a coincidence?

What about the money?

£30,000 isn't so much for Karla to pay if it protects his mole.

I'm afraid someone in the Circus knows all about Mr. Tarr

and is doing everything they can to discredit him.

She said everything the Circus thinks is gold is shit.

Made in Moscow.

Why didn't you tell me that you had Tarr?

In case I never made it out of the Circus.

I should get some rest.

I suppose you've got your reading to do.

Come up.

I met him once,

Karla.

In '55.

Moscow Center was in pieces.

Purge after purge.

Half their agents were jumping ship

and I traveled around signing them up. Hundreds of them.

One of them was calling himself Gerstmann.

He was on his way back to Russia

and we were pretty sure he was going to be executed.

Plane had a 24-hour layover at Delhi,

and that's how long I had to convince him

to come over to us instead of going home to die.

There's a little room...

I'm sitting here, he's sitting there.

The Americans had had him tortured.

No fingernails.

It's incredibly hot.

I'm very tired and all I want to do

is get this over with and get back home.

Things weren't going well with Ann.

I give him the usual pitch.

Come to the West and we can give you a comfortable life.

After questioning.

What did he say?

Think of your wife.

You have a wife, don't you?

Yeah, I brought you some cigarettes, by the way.

Use my lighter.

We could arrange for her to join you.

We have a lot of stock to trade.

If you go back, she'll be ostracized. Think of her. Think about...

I kept harping on about the damn wife.

Telling him more about me than...

I should have walked out, of course...

but for some reason it seemed important to save this one, so I go on.

We're not so very different, you and I.

We've both spent our lives

looking for the weaknesses in one another's systems.

Don't you think it's time to recognize

there is as little worth on your side as there is on mine?

Never said a word.

Not one word.

And the next morning he got back on his plane.

Handed the pack of cigarettes back to me, untouched.

And this was a chain smoker, mind.

And flew off to what he presumed would be his death.

He kept my lighter.

It was a gift.

To George from Ann.

All my love.

That was Karla.

He went back to die rather than giving in.

Yes, and that's how I know he can be beaten.

Because he's a fanatic.

And the fanatic is always concealing a secret doubt.

What did he look like?

I can't remember.

After today, Peter,

you have to assume they're watching you.

If there's anything you need tidied up...

now's the time.

Nearly done.

For God's sake.

Sometimes I think they're all sharing the same moronic brain.

If there's someone else, you can tell me.

I'm a grown-up.

It'll be absolutely wonderful

and everyone's gonna be there and it's just gonna be such a wonderful...

Excuse me?

Peter, are you ready?

Put it on now, put it on now.

Everybody!

Jerry.

George.

- Peter. - Jerry.

I need to talk to you. About the night Jim Prideaux was killed.

You were Duty Officer, weren't you?

Yeah.

Control asked me to man the phones that night.

Said someone was doing a special job for the service.

He wanted someone he could trust.

There's been a bit of a panic, sir.

This is from the FO, Resident Clerk. A Hungarian news bulletin.

British spy, work name Ellis,

traveling with false Hungarian papers

has attempted to kidnap an unnamed Hungarian General in Budapest.

He's been shot.

Other arrests imminent.

Can I have a brief, please?

Sir? Do you want me to deny it, sir?

I must have a brief, sir.

I couldn't get a word out of Control,

so I followed protocol and went for the emergency list.

You rang my house.

Just on the off-chance you were back from Berlin.

What did you say?

Hello?

Hello, Mrs. Smiley. It's Jerry. Jerry Westerby from the office.

Just that there'd been a bit of a crisis.

Ann said you wasn't back yet and that was it.

Go on.

All hell broke loose.

Military yelling about Hungarian tank movements on the border.

Lacon and the Minister banging at the door.

Thank Christ, Bill Haydon turned up when he did.

- Mr. Haydon. - Not now.

Mr. Haydon!

Out!

- Tell me. - I tried to get hold of you.

I got half a story on the ticker-tape at my club. Tell me.

Jim Prideaux's been shot.

Get me the Hungarian Embassy.

You go and tell your masters what will happen

if one hair on Jim Prideaux's head is damaged.

Get Esterhase on the phone. Tell him to call in all the Hungarian agents.

- Anyone we're on to. - Yes, sir.

Any more news on him? Sir?

Oh, God.

We need to get down to his flat. Clear out anything linked.

Haydon heard the news at his club?

The Saville.

The ticker-tape wouldn't have been running,

so how did he know?

- Jesus, George. - Peter.

Jesus Christ, Bill Haydon.

- How could he have known? - It's not what you think.

- Then how did he know? - Because he was at my house that night.

Good flight?

Yes.

Pleasant enough.

I was just passing. I thought I'd call in.

Ann was in bed, but she insisted on getting up.

Said she'd be down in a minute.

That's what I'm dropping off. It's an awful daub really.

But Ann expressed a liking.

What's keeping her?

Keep going.

Come on, lads, keep up!

Come on, Bill!

- Got your specs on, Jumbo? - Yes, sir.

Come here.

Who's that fellow down there?

I don't know, sir.

Who is he?

Beggar man? Thief?

Why doesn't he look this way?

Wouldn't you if you saw a bunch of boys flogging a car round a field?

What's the matter with him? Doesn't he like us?

I don't hold with odd-bods hanging around.

He might steal the Alvis.

- Which is? - The best car in England, sir.

Good lad.

How were you briefed for the Budapest mission?

Control asked me to come to a flat in Kensington.

There's a rotten apple, Jim.

And we have to find it.

What did you make of it, Jim?

Control's theory?

I thought it was madness.

I know that it is one of five men.

All I want from you is one codename.

Alleline.

Tinker.

Haydon.

Tailor.

Bland.

Soldier.

We drop Sailor, it's too close to Tailor

and Rich Man doesn't seem to be applicable.

Esterhase.

Poor Man.

And the fifth?

Smiley.

I thought it was madness.

To think that any one of you could have been a traitor.

Absolute madness.

But you still went.

Why?

I went because Control asked me to go.

It's called doing one's duty.

At the station I met the legman

who was supposed to take me to the General.

The waiter must've panicked. It was meant to be a simple snatch job.

They drove me to some military hospital

and then put me on a transport plane.

I could tell by the stars we were heading east.

Then they worked me for...

I don't know how long.

Weeks, maybe months.

What did you tell them?

Everything.

I held on for as long as I could

to let everyone get the hell out of there.

Did they?

My networks in Hungary, did they get out?

No, they were blown.

The story is you blew them to save your own skin.

After the interrogators had cleared out, this little fellow turned up.

Looked like a priest.

That's when they really started on me.

What was your last line of defense?

The mole.

Control's crazy theory.

I was gonna bury that so deep they'd never get it out of me.

Which was a joke.

Why?

Because they already knew.

All they wanted to know was how far

Control had got in his investigation.

Do you know this woman?

No, I don't know her.

Tell Alleline what we did.

Did they ask about me at all?

Yes.

The little fellow did.

And what did he say about me?

He had this cigarette lighter.

Kept flashing it about for me to see it.

Showed me the inscription.

- To George... - From Ann.

All my love.

Karla.

It was odd.

They sent me back to England. Straight to Sarratt for debriefing.

He said when he was being debriefed at the Nursery

he had a visitor.

Who?

Toby Esterhase. He gave him £1,000 and an Alvis.

Told him he was dead now, couldn't come back.

Had to become a lotus-eater, forget everything that happened.

Control's theory. Tinker, Tailor, all of it.

Yes, that's what I thought.

How on Earth did Esterhase hear about Tinker, Tailor?

Irina kept telling me at Moscow Center

everybody on the top floor was laughing themselves sick.

She told me Karla was very proud of this.

She said everything the Circus thinks is gold is shit.

Made in Moscow.

Kept telling me at Moscow Center

everybody on the top floor was laughing themselves sick.

She told me Karla was very proud of this.

She said everything the Circus thinks is gold is shit.

Irina kept telling me at Moscow Center

everybody on the top floor...

She said everything the Circus thinks is gold is shit.

This meeting is not taking place. Is that clear?

Perfectly, Minister.

There is a house somewhere in this city

where Alleline and the others meet Witchcraft's London representative.

I thought Lacon had made it clear to you.

Keep your nose bloody well out of Witchcraft's business.

It's Lacon's advice I'm following.

You told me to follow in Control's footsteps.

I wouldn't consider that sound advice,

given the mess Control left us with.

It has taken Alleline

and, if I may say so, myself this long to get us back in the game.

The man Alleline and the others meet is called Polyakov.

You believe his role is to bring information from Witchcraft to you.

His real role is to receive information from the mole

to take back to Karla.

That's not possible.

Made possible, by you, in the house

which you persuaded the Treasury to pay for.

Witchcraft's intelligence is genuine.

It's been gold.

It's just enough glitter amongst the chicken-feed.

Control didn't believe in miracles

and he didn't believe in Witchcraft.

But you were lazy and you were greedy

and so you hounded him out of the Circus

and you let Karla in.

You've opened negotiations to exchange intelligence with the Americans.

What they tell the Circus they'll be telling the Kremlin.

Witchcraft's information, the gold Karla let you have,

it wasn't to lure you,

it was to lure the Americans.

Now, do you want to take credit for that?

What can we do?

We have one thing the mole wants.

- If I go to Paris... - You'll go.

If I go to Paris,

I want your word that you will get Irina back.

And I don't care who you have to trade. And I am out.

I want a family, thank you. I do not want to end up like you lot.

You will get her back.

I'll do my utmost, Ricki.

Oh, hello, George. Hello.

I want to talk about loyalty, Toby.

Control recruited you, didn't he?

Found you starving in a museum in Vienna. A wanted man.

Saved your life, I heard.

And yet when the time came,

when it came to picking sides between him

and Alleline, you didn't hesitate.

That's understandable, perhaps, with your war experience.

You survived this long, I suppose,

because of your ability to change sides.

Serve any master.

What's this about, George?

It's about which master you've been serving, Toby.

Intelligence has been leaked, Toby.

Someone's been taking files from the Circus.

No, no, no, no, no.

This is a mistake. It's all a misunderstanding.

Files were delivered to a Russian Attaché, weren't they?

Yes.

And, yes, I delivered them.

But so did Percy Alleline.

Bill Haydon.

And so did Roy Bland.

Things aren't always what they seem, George. You should know that.

Look, Moscow thinks Polyakov's...

working for them.

So every now and then we give him

the odd file to take back to them.

Chicken-feed. Just to keep his bosses happy.

But Polyakov's our Joe.

He's a part of a big operation.

Operation Witchcraft. Yes, I know.

George. Please, I don't deserve this.

Who gave you the message for Jim Prideaux

to forget about Tinker, Tailor?

Bland.

To get rid of Connie Sachs? Westerby?

Bland, or Haydon. I don't know, one of them.

Or maybe Percy. No, well, I don't know who.

You're just the messenger.

Running between them all.

Anything to serve Witchcraft.

I know all about your secret source.

And I know something you don't.

I know who he is.

He's Karla.

One of you has been giving Polyakov the Crown Jewels.

I did not know.

Are you still a wanted man, Toby?

Look, George, I didn't know. I...

You picked the wrong side.

No, you've got to believe me, George. Please.

I am loyal.

I am loyal.

Don't send me back. Please, George.

Don't send me back.

Give me the address.

Where do you meet Polyakov?

Hey, hey. Dog, dog. Be quiet.

What is this? Who are you?

Mrs. McCraig?

Yes.

What are the safety signals?

The air vent.

Open and all's well. Closed and you're not to enter.

And the microphone?

Peter?

The boy stood on the burning deck.

Whence all but he had fled.

The flame that lit the battle's wreck.

Shone brightly o'er the dead.

Beautiful and proud he stood, as born to rule the storm.

A creature of blood, a proud, though child-like form.

The flames rolled on, he would not go Without his father's...

Go on.

The whole service is looking for you, Ricki.

Skin you alive if they find you.

Maybe I want them to find me.

You can go home now, Ben.

Leave the books where they are

and put the keys into the machines.

No, Ben stays here.

Ricki Tarr claims to have information

vital to the safeguarding of the Circus.

Mr. Smiley.

Taxi approaching the Circus.

Tinker.

Tailor.

Here comes Soldier.

Full house.

Well, go on then, read it out loud.

A personal for Tarr from Alleline.

Require clarification before meeting your request.

Quote, information vital to safeguarding

of the Circus, unquote,

does not qualify. Send further information.

That's it, Percy, you keep stalling.

I warn you, Ben, we've got some really lousy people in this outfit.

I wouldn't trust a fucking one of them.

Meeting's over.

They're leaving.

What is our story if we are disturbed?

All right. Is the switch off? Check, will you?

Make sure you're involved in setting up the meet.

We can have Tarr intercepted and removed before he gets within ten miles.

I'm Diplomatic Corps.

Any of your goons arrive, they better damn well remember that!

Why don't you cheer up?

You're probably going to get a medal and a flat in Moscow.

I'm the one that's going to get sent to Siberia.

Craddox says I'll be off in a few days.

I keep thinking how much I'm gonna miss the cricket in Moscow.

I was rather hoping you might do a little light housekeeping for me.

If I can.

There's a girl.

Give her some money, would you?

And give her a good cover story.

If it helps, tell her I love her. It's all there.

And there's a boy too. Slip him a few quid to shut him up.

I know the Inquisitors' little bag of tricks. I taught most of them.

It's just a reaction.

An overreaction, if you like.

I did have one or two questions.

About Prideaux.

God damn it! I got him back, didn't I?

Yes, yes, you did.

That was good of you.

I'm surprised Karla didn't have him shot.

Or do you think he held back, out of delicacy towards you?

Did Prideaux come and see you before

he left on that Hungarian mission?

Yes, as a matter of fact he did.

To say what?

To warn you.

Because he knew deep down it was you all along.

So did you.

I had to pick a side, George.

It was an aesthetic choice as much as a moral one.

And the West has become so very ugly,

don't you think?

Did Karla ever consider having you take over the Circus?

I'm not his bloody office boy!

What are you then, Bill?

I'm someone who's made his mark.

Is there anything particular you want me to pass on to Ann?

That was nothing personal, George. I hope you understand that.

Karla said you were good. The one we had to worry about.

But you do have a blind spot.

He reckoned if I was known to be Ann's lover,

you wouldn't be able to see me straight.

And he was right.

Up to a point.

Up to a point.

I made this for you, sir.

I don't want you hanging around here anymore.

Keep away from me from now on.

Go and join the others.

But...

Just bloody join in, will you?

Go and play! Damn you!