Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas cover art

The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas

By: John le Carré
Narrated by: full cast, Simon Russell Beale
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £10.00

Buy Now for £10.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Brother Cadfael cover art
Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection, Volume 1 cover art
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin cover art
Great and Horrible News cover art
Transference cover art
Broadland cover art
Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures - Season 1 cover art
Legacy cover art
A Killing in November cover art
Whisky from Small Glasses cover art
The Colour of Magic cover art
The Silmarillion cover art
Hyperion cover art
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan cover art
New Spring cover art
Hard Magic cover art

Editor reviews

"A radio triumph...Simon Russell Beale's pitch-perfect master spy." ( Financial Times)

Summary

The complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carré's best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley. With a star cast including Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville and Lindsay Duncan, these enthralling dramatisations perfectly capture the atmosphere of le Carré's taut, thrilling spy novels. 'Call for the Dead' is the first Smiley novel, which sees him looking into an apparent suicide only to uncover a murderous conspiracy; 'A Murder of Quality' finds Smiley investigating a murder in a private school; 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' introduces Alec Leamas, a British intelligence officer whose East Berlin network is in tatters; 'The Looking Glass War' features former spy Fred Leiser, lured back from retirement to investigate a claim that Soviet missiles are being installed close to the West German border; 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' is the first book in the Karla trilogy, and sees Smiley searching for a mole who has infiltrated the Circus; 'The Honourable Schoolboy' sees Smiley determined to destroy his nemesis, Karla, and his spy networks; 'Smiley's People' finds George Smiley called out of retirement to exorcise some Cold War ghosts from his clandestine past; and 'The Secret Pilgrim' sees Smiley invited to dine with the eager new recruits at the Circus. He offers them his thoughts on espionage and, in doing so, prompts a former colleague to re-examine his own eventful secret life. 

©2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2016 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

What listeners say about The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,483
  • 4 Stars
    362
  • 3 Stars
    73
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    24
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,308
  • 4 Stars
    229
  • 3 Stars
    52
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    17
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,182
  • 4 Stars
    336
  • 3 Stars
    64
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    11

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant

I stumbled across this presentation after listening to 2 Le Carre novels and must say that it was enthralling. So good was the acting that at times it stopped me from working just so that I could finish a story. I will look out for more in this format

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent series

This collection is well presented and enjoyable to listen to. The series takes George Smiley through the latter part of his Circus career and beyond, often he is not the mainstay but remains in the background as the master puppeteer.
The condensing of the books has been done well, it is not necessary to have read the books in order to follow the plot.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

BBC radio adaptation at its best

Any additional comments?

The BBC does great radio adaptations of well known novels and this ranks alongside The Lord of the Rings, War and Peace and Asimov's Foundation Trilogy as one of the best.
A good introduction to the Smiley series for those new to Le Carre and tasty comfort food for fans like myself who know his books well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A satisfying marathon listen

Once I started this compendium radio drama I couldn't stop. It took the best part of two weeks to finish but it was well worth it.
All of the novels about George Smiley are here faithfully dramatised by Simon Russell Beale and a fantastic supporting cast.
It took me a while to get the image of Alex Guinness out of my mind but Simon is a worthy successor to the role and gave a suspenseful and subtle performance.
My favourite was episode was The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, but all of the stories were involving.
John Le Carre is a masterful writer in the spy genre and these productions from the BBC bring the stories to life.
Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

You'll come back again and again

If you are reading this you probably know Le Carre and you know Smiley.

What you may not know it's that this is very well produced, acted and directed. It's episodic nature combined with it's complex nuanced plots and characters combine to make it the best audiobook collection I have to go back to if I have time or if I don't.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best audiobook for some time!

Clear speaking voices; heard and understood every word; storylines were perfectly dramatised and paced, allowing total immersion.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

BBC brings Smiley to life

The cast of these radio plays bring the world of George Smiley to life. Right from the first moment you will be hooked.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent.

Masterfully told coak and dagger stories of Cold War espionage. Convincingly performed and well produced.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

John le Carrè is one of my favourite writers. We need some more radio dramas of his books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very good

loved it very good escapism alot of food for thought, would recommend it to all

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful