BBC Unveils First Look at Legacy of Spies as Matthew Macfadyen Takes on George Smiley

George Smiley is returning to the screen — and the BBC’s first look at Legacy of Spies offers a glimpse of an espionage drama built around one of John le Carré’s most enduring creations.

The eight-part series stars Succession actor Matthew Macfadyen as the legendary British spymaster, with Charlie Hunnam, Daniel Brühl, Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu and Hugh Laurie among the major names joining him. The drama is based primarily on le Carré’s 1963 classic The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, while also incorporating material from his 2017 novel A Legacy of Spies.

Produced by The Ink Factory — the company behind The Night Manager — the series brings le Carré’s Cold War world back to television on a large scale.

Matthew Macfadyen steps into the role of George Smiley

The newly released images give the first substantial look at Macfadyen as George Smiley, complete with the character’s distinctive spectacles.

Smiley has previously been played by acclaimed actors including Alec Guinness and Gary Oldman. Macfadyen now takes on the role for a new television adaptation that places the enigmatic intelligence officer at the centre of a much broader Cold War story.

Alongside him is Charlie Hunnam as Alec Leamas, the British intelligence officer whose dangerous assignment drives much of the drama.

The series begins with Leamas, an experienced field operative, facing another difficult operation in divided Berlin. His mission involves Doris Quinz, played by Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu, a young East German woman who becomes involved in an attempt to move valuable Stasi intelligence into the West.

What follows is far more complicated than a straightforward intelligence operation.

A dangerous game in Cold War Berlin

Leamas and Doris soon find themselves caught between competing forces inside the East German intelligence apparatus.

Daniel Brühl plays Josef Fiedler, while Felix Kammerer portrays Hans-Dieter Mundt. Both Stasi operatives are determined to stop the flow of intelligence, but their rivalry creates another layer of tension as each attempts to outmanoeuvre the other.

Agnes O’Casey plays Liz Gold, whose relationship with Leamas brings the personal consequences of the operation increasingly into focus.

Meanwhile, Smiley remains in the background, quietly directing events, while the elusive Soviet spymaster Karla hangs over the wider conflict.

The result is an espionage story in which the battle between intelligence agencies is inseparable from the relationships of the people caught inside it.

When loyalty and love become part of the operation

One of the defining elements of le Carré’s writing is the way espionage reaches beyond secret meetings and intelligence exchanges.

Legacy of Spies similarly explores what happens when professional duty collides with personal loyalty and love. As the operation develops, the characters are forced to navigate shifting allegiances, betrayal and decisions in which emotional attachments can become liabilities.

That approach reflects the moral complexity associated with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, first published in 1963 and widely regarded as one of le Carré’s landmark espionage novels.

Rather than presenting the Cold War as a simple contest between heroes and villains, the story places its characters inside a system where almost every decision carries a personal cost.

An unusually extensive ensemble

Macfadyen and Hunnam are joined by a large British and European ensemble.

Hugh Laurie, who previously worked with The Ink Factory on The Night Manager, plays Control, Smiley’s superior. Joe Alwyn takes the role of Jim Prideaux, while Anjana Vasan plays Connie Sachs.

Dan Stevens portrays Bill Haydon, with Jake Dunn as Peter Guillam. The wider cast includes Charlotte Ritchie, Lee Ross, James McArdle, John Dagleish, Goran Bogdan and Adam Hugill.

The international ensemble also features Safia Oakley-Green, Ariyon Bakare, Volker Bruch, Saskia Rosendahl, Patrick Güldenberg, Felix Kammerer, Agnes O’Casey and Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu.

The combination of established British performers and European actors reflects the international scope of the story, which moves through a Cold War landscape shaped by British, East German and Soviet intelligence.

From The Night Manager to another le Carré adaptation

The Ink Factory’s involvement gives Legacy of Spies a direct connection to The Night Manager, the company’s earlier television adaptation of le Carré’s work.

This time, however, the production is drawing from more than one novel. The eight-part drama combines the central material of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold with elements from A Legacy of Spies, le Carré’s 2017 novel that revisited characters and events connected to his earlier work.

Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram are writing the series, with Cornwell also serving as showrunner. Michael Lennox and Claudia Llosa are directing, while The Ink Factory is producing alongside Amusement Park Film, with 127 Wall Productions and Paramount Television Studios also involved.

The production began filming in Prague in 2026, where parts of the city were transformed to recreate Cold War-era locations. By August, the Prague shoot had wrapped and production had moved to Liverpool, where parts of the city were dressed to resemble the 1960s.

When will Legacy of Spies air?

Legacy of Spies will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, with MGM+ carrying the series in the United States.

A specific premiere date has not yet been confirmed. Current reporting places the series within the BBC and MGM+ 2026–27 television cycle, while the latest first-look coverage points toward a 2027 UK debut.

With Macfadyen stepping into one of le Carré’s most recognisable roles and a cast that stretches across both sides of the former Iron Curtain, Legacy of Spies is shaping up as another major television interpretation of the author’s distinctive world of espionage.