The cast has been announced for Legacy of Spies as filming begins on the BBC’s new Cold War drama.
It’s based on John le Carré’s hit novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and also features material from his 2017 novel A Legacy of Spies.
The eight-part espionage thriller stars Pride and Prejudice actor Matthew Macfadyen as the iconic character of George Smiley.
“This is a timeless, and very timely, story about espionage, power, and morality,” said Macfadyen.
“I am hugely thrilled and not a little daunted to be playing George Smiley – this quiet, intelligent and deeply private man. And delighted to be stepping into le Carré’s world…”
Macfadyen will appear alongside Charlie Hunnam (The Gentlemen), Daniel Brühl (All Quiet on the Western Front), Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu (The Empress).
Also joining the cast is Downton Abbey actor Dan Stevens as the “brilliant and enigmatic” Bill Haydon.
John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was originally published in 1963 and became an instant global phenomenon.
The new adaptation is described as “a story of strategy, loyalty, love and betrayal.”
“Le Carré’s work defined the espionage genre but also disrupted it, turned it on its head,” commented director Michael Lennox.
“His work was daring, stripped back and lived in the present, revealing the profoundly human, life-and-death stakes behind the intrigue. Legacy of Spies bottles that same spirit, a story about individuals making impossible choices at a pivotal moment in history,” he added.
The official synopsis reads: “When Alec Leamas (Charlie Hunnam), a highly experienced Circus field operative, recruits Doris Quinz (Devrim Lingau Islamoğlu), a young and dynamic East German woman, to smuggle high-value Stasi documents into the West, it sets in motion a series of events that threaten to explode in the crucible of Cold War Berlin.
“Pursuing Leamas and Doris are Josef Fiedler (Daniel Brühl) and Hans-Dieter Mundt (Felix Kammerer), two Stasi operatives whose ferocious desire to shut down the intelligence leak is matched only by their internal rivalry and an iron will to outmatch each other.
“Pulled into the action is Liz Gold (Agnes O’Casey), an idealistic young woman whose courage and conviction force Leamas to navigate a world where loyalties fracture and betrayal is inevitable.
“Behind the scenes, the brilliant and taciturn spymaster George Smiley (Matthew Macfadyen) orchestrates operations while the elusive Soviet mastermind Karla looms in the shadows, setting the stage for a conflict that will define a generation.
“Personal lives become collateral in a ruthless intelligence war, and as the lines between duty and love begin to blur, every emotion becomes a weapon.”
Legacy of Spies is expected to premiere in early 2027 on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, and on MGM+ in the United States.
