TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY is based on the John Le Carré cold war spy novel. Set in the 1970s, George Smiley, a recently retired MI6 agent, is doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent re-appears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage.

When I first met John le Carré he was very clear about his wishes regarding the film version of his novel “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”: “Please don’t shoot the book or re-make the TV mini-series. They already exist. I’m not going to interfere, but you can call me any time if there is anything you wonder about.” I think we have obeyed him to the letter. Of course, you cannot encompass every detail in a book of 349 pages at the movies. But you can take themes and strands and moments, and try to describe what you see. With TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY I think we’ve made a film about loyalty and ideals, values that are extremely relevant − perhaps mostly because they are so rare these days?