Smiley's People (1982)

Drama · Mystery

Called out of retirement to settle the affairs of a friend, Smiley finds his old organization, the Circus, so overwhelmed by political considerations that it doesn't want to know what happened. He begins to follow up the clues of his friends past days, discovering that the clues lead to a high person in the Russian Secret service, and a secret important enough to kill for.

IMDb rating: 8.4 (5,540 votes)
Episode average: 8.3 -0.1 vs IMDb
Seasons: 1
Language: EN
Type: Mini-series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 1 season indexed

Cast

Alec Guinness George Smiley

Seasons

Season 1 (1982)

8.33 avg 6 episodes 8.1 → 8.6 60 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	A Mother's Assistance	8.1	261
2	The General's Big Fish	8.3	242
3	Gathering Friends	8.3	219
4	The Rogue Elephant	8.4	209
5	Alexandra Tatjana	8.3	204
6	Smiley's Lighter	8.6	214