The deputy to the head of British intelligence is forced into retirement after an operation ends in disaster. He is later recruited by the government to return to duty and investigate the possibility of a Soviet mole in a high-ranking position in MI6. Cold War thriller based on John Le Carre's novel, with Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and John Hurt.

George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.