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Smiley's People Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
6 Episodes 1982 - 1982
Episode 1
A Mother's Assistance
60 mins
In Paris, a Russian émigré is approached by a ginger-haired Russian official and told that her daughter Alexandra may be allowed to join her in the West. Madame Ostrakova had been given permission to join her husband who had defected to the West but at a great cost: she was forced to leave her infant daughter behind. She follows instructions and applies for a visa for her daughter at the Russian Embassy. When weeks go by and she hears nothing, she writes to a former Soviet General, Vladimir, who now lives in London. He realizes something important in what she says and contacts the Circus, headquarters of the British Secret Service. When he is found dead on Hampstead Heath, George Smiley is called out of retirement to tie up any loose ends and ensure the old General's death doesn't raise any of his former connections to the Service.
Episode 2
The General's Big Fish
60 mins
George Smiley continues his his investigation into the death of General Vladimir but discovers a number of anomalies related to his death. His former employers in the Secret Service simply wanted him to ensure that the General's death doesn't dredge up any old history. George is convinced however that the General was assassinated by the KGB and is puzzled by the possessions the police found - or didn't find - in his coat pocket. He retraces the General's recent movements and learns that a friend of his had brought him something important from Germany. A walk through Hampstead Heath turns up the information he had obtained. In Paris meanwhile, Madame Ostrakova is attacked by thugs who try to throw her in front of a car. Now in fear for her life, she again writes her friend the General in London.
Episode 3
Gathering Friends
60 mins
George calls on his now retired former colleague Toby Esterhase who tells him the General approached 2 weeks before his death and asked him to collect a document for him. Toby doesn't think much of the old General or some of his cronies such as Otto Leipzig, a peddler of information, most of it made up. George does remind him however that Otto's information about Moscow Centre, the headquarters of the KGB, was usually first-rate. George also visits Connie Sachs, Mother Russia as she was known before she retired from - or being pushed out of, she would say - the Circus. George wants her memory and she tells him of Otto Leipzig and a ginger-haired Soviet spy called Oleg Kirov, or the Ginger Pig, as Otto called him. They were university students together and unbeknown to Otto then, Kirov was already a spy shopping the more radical students to the authorities. Otto had run into Kirov in Paris struck up a friendship with him but by the time he had set Kirov up for the kill, so to speak, the Circus had gone off émigrés and didn't pursue it.
Episode 4
The Rogue Elephant
60 mins
George travels to West Germany to make contact with Otto Leipzig. He starts by visiting the owner of a sex club, Claus Kretchmar. A friend of Otto's for many years, Kretchmar was often used as the intermediary when the Circus wanted to get in touch with Otto. It quickly becomes obvious to Smiley that the photo the General was so excited about was taken in the night club. He also assumes there is more information, taped conversations perhaps, but Kretchmar claims to have nothing. Smiley sets off to a holiday camp to find Otto. There he sees the extent to which the Soviets will go to keep Otto's information secret. He also finds the key to the information that Otto had left behind for him. George travels to Paris to arrange for Madame Ostrakova's protection and enlists the assistance of Peter Guillam, now assigned to the Embassy.
Episode 5
Alexandra Tatjana
60 mins
George Smiley meets Sir Saul Enderby, his successor as the head of the Intelligence Service, to review the materials obtained by Otto Leipzig. The Ginger Pig, Oleg Kirov, revealed that Karla - the head of the KGB's 13th Directorate that specializes in the placing of moles into Western society - assigned him to create a legend for a young woman. He also authorized the transfer of CHF10,000 per month to the account of a Mr. Glazer in Thun, Switzerland. Enderby asks George to take charge of the investigation and he soon finds himself in Bern along with Toby Esterhase and several of the operatives from his days as Chief. They quickly conclude that Glazer is in fact a Soviet diplomat named Grigoriev who, in recent months, has considerably improved his lifestyle by moving out of the Russian diplomatic ghetto and acquiring a Mercedes. He not only only withdraws the money every month but also visit a private medical clinic weekly.
Episode 6
Smiley's Lighter
60 mins
In Bern, Smiley begins his interrogation of the hapless Soviet diplomat, Grigoriev, who proves to be a most willing informant, particularly when they threaten to reveal photos of him kissing the pretty Russian consular clerk to his dragon of a wife. He reveals how he first came into contact with Karla while attending a trade conference in Moscow. He pays the monthly clinic costs out of the money he withdraws from the bank and sends weekly reports to Karla via the Embassy courier on the girl's appearance, her manner and her attitude. He assumed the girl was Karla's daughter, but isn't sure. Knowing that he has finally found Karla's weak point, George Smiley sends him a letter with a proposition that, George hopes, Karla will find impossible to refuse. On the appointed night, George, Peter Guillam and Toby Esterhase with his team wait patiently at the East/West checkpoint in West Berlin to see if their plan has worked.
