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Episodes: All (7)

Season: 1
Year: 1979

Season 1

Season 1, Episode 1: Return to the Circus

Original Air Date—10 September 1979
Control, the ageing head of British Intelligence (the "Circus"), sets up Operation "Testify": he sends secret agent Jim Prideaux to Czechoslovakia where he is to get the name of a Soviet spy (or "mole") inside the Circus. But Prideaux falls into a trap...

Season 1, Episode 2: Tarr Tells His Story

Original Air Date—17 September 1979
Retired from the "Circus", George Smiley, former right-hand of the late Control, meets Ricky Tarr, a British agent who went AWOL, believe defected. Tarr tells of how a mission to Portugal led him to learning about the mole in the "Circus".

Season 1, Episode 3: Smiley Tracks the Mole

Original Air Date—24 September 1979
While Smiley checks on other former colleagues for details of what is known about the mole, his protégé Peter Guillam plays Burglar Bill by sneaking into the Circus and getting corroboration of Tarr's story and the details of Operation "Testify". Smiley also focuses on source "Merlin", a British spy in the KGB, and his "Witchcraft" material upon which the present heads of the "Circus" owe their positions.

Season 1, Episode 4: How It All Fits Together

Original Air Date—1 October 1979
Smiley and Guillam realise that Tarr has not told them the full story and that his presence in Britain is known to those suspected of being the mole. Smiley also reflects on an encounter he once had with Karla, Moscow Centre's leading strategist.

Season 1, Episode 5: Tinker Tailor

Original Air Date—8 October 1979
Smiley goes to meet Jim Prideaux who is now back in Britain having survived his experience in Czechoslovakia. His testimony and that of others sheds new light on the "Testify" fiasco and source "Merlin".

Season 1, Episode 6: Smiley Sets a Trap

Original Air Date—15 October 1979
Smiley confronts one of his suspects and gives him the results of his investigations, which could prove a considerable embarrassment to those concerned.

Season 1, Episode 7: Flushing Out the Mole

Original Air Date—22 October 1979
Smiley springs his trap and catches the mole. Then under incarceration, the mole explains why he did it and how Karla planned the whole thing.

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