One of the best spy thriller movies ever is getting a starry BBC remake

The series will adapt novels by John le Carré featuring legendary spy characters.

Titled Legacy of Spies, the show will adapt two novels by the author: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and its prequel/sequel book A Legacy of Spies.

Written by Stephen Cornwell (Message from the King, also a son of le Carré) with Clarissa Ingram, the series will star Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) as master-spy George Smiley, Charlie Hunnam (The Gentlemen) as the British intelligence officer Alec Leamas, Daniel Brühl (Rush) as East German spy Jens Fielder and Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu (The Empress) as Doris Quinz aka Agent Tulip.

Also produced by Graham Yost (Justified, Silo, Slow Horses), Malte Grunert (All Quiet on the Western Front) and Suzanne Bier (The Night Manager), the thriller will chart George Smiley’s overarching quest for his nemesis, Russian master-spy Karla, through the Cold War.

Legacy of Spies will be set across the UK, and what was, in the time period of the story, East and West Germany and Czechoslovakia.

The plot synopsis states:

"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."

The character of George Smiley was also previously played on screen by Alec Guinness and Gary Oldman in separate adaptations of le Carré's novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Comprising eight episodes, Legacy of Spies will air on BBC One in the UK and Ireland and MGM+ in the US.