![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() My teen years were when I compiled my mental library, without knowing that's what I was doing. And when it was over, the books remained. But knowing the ending spoilt nothing, and I stayed hooked throughout the ensuing weeks, soaking up the drama's atmosphere, its muted palette, the grubby world of Le Carre's Circus, so distantly removed from the glitzy shenanigans of James Bond. Memory also tells me that by the time the second part of the drama was screened I had read the novel, and knew who the mole was, and if an unconventional manner of carrying a cup and saucer wasn't explicitly cited as indicative of treachery, it probably counted as circumstantial evidence. "That's a strange way of carrying his tea", my dad said. One-who would turn out to be Bill Haydon, as played by Ian Richardson-entered carrying a cup of tea, on top of which he'd balanced a saucer, to prevent spillage. I can't remember who else was in the room, or whether it was a weeknight, or what time of year it was, but I do remember that during the opening scene we watched the characters assemble for a meeting. The programme was a new drama serial, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, about the search for a mole in the British secret service and if "mole" was a part of my vocabulary then, it would have been from reading about this very programme. My memory tells me it happened like this: I was watching TV it was 1979. ![]()
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