'Simon Russell Beale is unique. No living actor can match his understanding of language, or his interpretation of character. He will make a superb Smiley, and I feel deeply honoured.' John le Carré
In 2009/10, the BBC dramatised eight of John le Carré's George Smiley novels for radio, with Simon Russell Beale playing Smiley throughout. Jeremy Howe, Radio 4's Commissioning Editor for Drama at the time, said, 'For me, The Complete Smiley is the most ambitious drama we have embarked upon in my time at Radio 4. Smiley is one of the great characters of 20th century fiction, and the way he threads, weaves, ducks and dives through the complexities of the Cold War has given us some of the century's most enthralling stories.'
The star cast list includes Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville, and Lindsey Duncan, and the Smiley books featured are Call for the Dead, A Murder of Quality, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Looking Glass War, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, Smiley's People and The Secret Pilgrim.
