From the NY Times 2011: Spycraft Dispensed With Appropriate, Deliberate Speed

"In the early 1980's, Alec Guinness played for the BBC and later for American Public Television, the part of a spy named George Smiley. Smiley was the creation of the master story teller John LeCarre. He was, on the surface, a colorless man, with a flamboyant wife, but he was also perhaps the best spy catcher the British had in their secret service, and a keeper of secrets. The series, which also includes Smiley's People, a sequel, became another of the jewels in Guinness's crown -- a portrayal that is still remembered vividly by those lucky enough to see it. "