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Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

The new Tinker Tailor is legit, but tragically miscast. They had Toby Jones! They had Ciaren Hinds! Either would have been a perfect Smiley. Oldman (at that time) would have been a perfectly good Alleline!

If you haven't watched the BBC Tinker Tailor, you're missing out on the canonical Smiley, though.

Burton's Leamas in Spy Who Came In From The Cold is probably the GOAT though.

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What I liked about the 1979 TTSS and Smiley's People was that the riddles, characters, and relationships had ample space to be explored properly with unashamedly long, drawn out scenes and side stories. The atmosphere of it is just terrific. I think it's the best piece of television I've watched.

Thing is, that was 10 hours per season. It was a futile task to try and cram that into a film; more so than most series/books because it has a fucking confusing plot. It'd have lent itself better to 2/3 parts - and then onto Smiley's people, which IMHO is even better!

I actually liked the casting, it was an unusual and unexpected arrangement but everyone really shined.

BBC version was okay, but felt really low budget. The sound for example was pretty bad for a BBC production.

Farty Slow Horses Oldman could have pulled off a good Smiley, too. But 2011 Oldman? The same year he did Deathly Hallows? Not a chance. Smiley not being like 2011-era Gary Oldman is one of his most important character traits. Also: Toby Jones is fantastic and it would have been great to see more of him.

It was a good movie and true in all other respects to the book.

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