FIRST LOOK Legacy of Spies

Marking spymaster George Smiley's long-anticipated return to television.

As filming wraps on BBC One's highly anticipated espionage thriller, Legacy of Spies, two first look images have been released of Matthew Macfadyen in the iconic role of George Smiley and Charlie Hunnam as the embattled, world-weary agent-runner and field operative, Alec Leamas.

Adapted from le Carré's global bestseller, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and drawing on additional material from his 2017 novel A Legacy of Spies, the eight-part drama marks spymaster George Smiley's long-anticipated return to television.

When Alec Leamas, a highly experienced Circus field operative, recruits Doris Quinz, played by Devrim Lingau Islamoğlu, a young and dynamic East German woman, to smuggle high-value Stasi documents into the West, it sets in motion a series of events that threaten to explode in the crucible of Cold War Berlin.

Pursuing Leamas and Doris are Josef Fiedler and Hans-Dieter Mundt, played by Daniel Brühl and Felix Kammerer, two Stasi operatives whose ferocious desire to shut down the intelligence leak is matched only by their internal rivalry and an iron will to outmatch each other. 

Pulled into the action is Liz Gold, played by Agnes O’Casey, an idealistic young woman whose courage and conviction force Leamas to navigate a world where loyalties fracture, and betrayal is inevitable.

Behind the scenes, the brilliant and taciturn spymaster George Smiley orchestrates operations while the elusive Soviet mastermind Karla looms in the shadows, setting the stage for a conflict that will define a generation.

Personal lives become collateral in a ruthless intelligence war, and as the lines between duty and love begin to blur, every emotion becomes a weapon.

The series also stars Dan Stevens as Bill Haydon, Jake Dunn as Peter Guillam, Anjana Vasan as Connie Sachs, Charlotte Ritchie as Ann Smiley, Joe Alwyn as Jim Prideaux, and Hugh Laurie as Control. 

Made by The Ink Factory, in co-production with Amusement Park Film and in association with 127 Wall Productions and Paramount Television Studios, Legacy of Spies is written by Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram, produced by Nancy Bray, with Michael Lennox as lead director and Claudia Llosa as second director.

It's executive produced by Stephen Cornwell, who is also showrunner, Graham Yost, Simon Cornwell, Michele Wolkoff, Malte Grunert, Chris Rice, Matthew Macfadyen, Charlie Hunnam, Clarissa Ingram, Michael Lennox, and Joe Tsai.

Susanne Bier and Mike Lesslie are also executive producers alongside Gaynor Holmes and Nick Lambon for the BBC and Nick Cornwell for the John le Carré estate. Sam Costin and Claudia Llosa, are co-executive producers.

Legacy of Spies will air on BBC One