In 1973, “Control”, head of British intelligence (“The Circus”), sends Jim Prideaux to Budapest to meet a Hungarian general who has the name of a mole at the top of British Intelligence. Prideaux, realising the meeting is a trap, is shot as he tries to leave. Control and his right-hand man George Smiley are forced to retire, and Control dies soon after. Percy Alleline becomes the new Chief, Bill Haydon his deputy, and Roy Bland and Toby Esterhase his lieutenants. They had already begun receiving Soviet Intelligence from a secret source (Operation “Witchcraft”).Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 2011 Full
Field agent Ricki Tarr warns civil servant Oliver Lacon that there is a mole at the top of the Circus. Knowing that Control had the same theory, Lacon asks Smiley to investigate, helped by Tarr’s boss Peter Guillam and retired Special Branch officer George Mendel.
Smiley interviews analyst Connie Sachs, who was sacked for deducing that Soviet cultural attaché Alexei Polyakov was a military officer and suspecting he was running a mole in London.
Tarr tells Smiley that in Istanbul, Soviet agent Irina wanted to exchange the identity of the mole in return for asylum. After he notified London, the local station chief was murdered and Irina abducted. Fearing for his life, Tarr went into hiding. Smiley sends Guillam to steal the logbook for the night Tarr contacted London. Guillam is unexpectedly brought before Circus leadership and told that Tarr is a traitor. Smiley finds that the logbook pages for the relevant night have been removed, supporting Tarr’s story.
Smiley tells Guillam that in 1955, he had urged Moscow’s spymaster Karla to defect, begging him to “think of his wife” and realized too late that he had revealed his own weak spot: his love for his wife. Former duty officer Jerry Westerby tells Smiley of how Prideaux’s shooting sent Control into shock. Westerby left a message with Ann Smiley – Haydon then arrived and took charge. Guillam wonders how Haydon could have learned of the emergency, but Smiley tells him he was having an affair with Ann.