THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

Film4, 11am

Paul Dehn’s screenplay sticks pretty close to the source material in this excellent adaptation of John le Carre’s classic spy novel. Richard Burton is superb in the lead role of Alec Leamas, a burnt-out British spy whose latest assignment ends in failure and who is given a stark choice – come in from the cold and take a desk job or go on one final mission. Opting for the latter, he is sent into East Germany, where he must convince the enemy network he has resigned his post and wants to defect, thus gaining their trust and putting him in a perfect position to deliver false intelligence. But along the way, Leamas starts to suspect he is nothing but a pawn in a much larger game.