The BBC has announced Legacy of Spies, a new le Carré spy drama

The series will chart George Smiley’s overarching quest for his nemesis, Russian master-spy Karla, through the defining era of our modern age, the Cold War.

What is Legacy of Spies about and who stars

From the press release, we learn it is written by Stephen Cornwell (Message from the King, A Most Wanted Man, Unknown) with Clarissa Ingram. It adapts le Carré’s best-selling novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and will also draw on additional material from A Legacy of Spies.

The 8 x 60’ drama for BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK and MGM+ in the US, is led Matthew Macfadyen (Death by Lighting, Succession, Deadpool) as master-spy George Smiley, Charlie Hunnam (Monster, Sons of Anarchy, The Gentlemen) as the British intelligence officer Alec Leamas, Daniel Brühl (All Quiet on the Western Front, Rush) as East German spy Jens Fielder and Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu (The Empress) as Doris Quinz aka Agent Tulip.

The picture above shows Matthew Macfadyen (Image: Josh Wool) Daniel Brühl (Image: Pablo Arroyo) and Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu (Image: Elena Zaucke).

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.

We assume this will air in 2026. We will bring updates as we get them.