The BBC has signed up for the John le Carré series Legacy of Spies which is being made by The Ink Factory, the TV and film production company set up by the writer’s sons.
Written by Stephen Cornwell with Clarissa Ingram, the series adapts le Carré’s iconic, genre defining, 1963 novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold while also drawing on additional material from his 2017 book A Legacy of Spies.
The series has been in the works for months with former Spooks star Matthew Macfadyen set to star as George Smiley, le Carré’s most famous and enduring character.
He’ll be joined by Charlie Hunnam as British intelligence officer Alec Leamas, Daniel Brühl as East German spy Jens Fielder and Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu as Doris Quinz aka Agent Tulip.
Graham Yost (Slow Horses) and Malte Grunert (All Quiet on the Western Front) will executive produce the series which will chart Smiley’s overarching quest for his nemesis, Russian master-spy Karla , through the defining era of our modern age, the Cold War.
The series begins in the shadow of the newly-erected Berlin Wall, as Alec Leamas watches his last agent shot dead by East German sentries.
For Leamas, a senior British intelligence officer in Berlin, the Cold War is over. As he faces the prospect of retirement or worse – a desk job – Control offers him a unique opportunity for revenge.
Assuming the guise of an embittered and dissolute ex-agent, Leamas is set up to trap Mundt, the deputy director of the East German Intelligence Service, with himself as the bait.
In the background is George Smiley, ready to make the game play out just as Control wants.
The series is a co-production with Amusement Park Film in association with 127 Wall Productions and Paramount Television Studios and will air on the BBC in the UK and on MGM+ in the US.
Simon Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell, Founders and co-CEOs at The Ink Factory, said: “This project is in many ways the most ambitious and all-encompassing adaptation of le Carré’s work to date, taking our father’s best-known and most-loved most character – the complex and brilliant spymaster George Smiley – and using this medium as a canvas to chart his story as he moves through a world which culturally and politically shapes the one we live in today.
“To have Matthew embody this operational mastermind, a man both vulnerable and dangerous, alongside the brilliant talent of Charlie and Devrim, is a great coup.
“We are thrilled the series has found its home with the BBC and MGM+ and to be collaborating alongside Malte and the Amusement Park team, while having Graham’s wisdom, vision and deft touch helping us guide this project – bringing his own mastery of the genre alongside that of le Carré’s.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: “Legacy of Spies is a dream le Carré project adapted by the brilliant Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram.
“We are thrilled to have The Ink Factory – who are the ultimate experts in this genre – making this series which stars some of our best actors; Matthew, Charlie, Devrim and Daniel. BBC viewers are in for a very special treat!”
Michael Wright, global head of MGM+, commented: “The opportunity to partner with The Ink Factory, the BBC, and this remarkable creative team to tell the story of John le Carré’s legendary George Smiley is truly a dream project.
“MGM+ is building its brand around classic storytelling for a modern audience, and ‘Legacy of Spies’ is the embodiment of that, with a brilliant cast led by Matthew Macfadyen and Charlie Hunnam. We’re thrilled to bring it to the MGM+ audience.”