🎭 Call for the Dead (John le Carré’s First George Smiley Mystery)

Call for the Dead is John le Carré’s first published novel and the debut story featuring his iconic British intelligence officer George Smiley.

The plot follows Smiley as he investigates what appears to be the suicide of a civil servant, uncovering deeper conspiracies and personal stakes beneath the surface. The novel has been adapted multiple times for radio by the BBC, most notably in 1977/78 for the World Service and in 2009 as part of BBC Radio 4’s Complete Smiley series, a cycle of dramatizations of le Carré’s Smiley novels.

Cast:
George Cole as George Smiley; Alfred Burke as Inspector Mendel; Douglas Blackwell as Peter Guillam; Richard Hurndall as Maston; Anthony Newlands as Samuel Fennan; Hilda Kriseman as Elsa Fennan; Kenneth Shanley as Assistant Supervisor; Jane Williams as Josie; additional parts played by Frances Jeater, George Innes, James Thomason, Jane Knowles, Malcolm Gerard, Paul Meier, Rod Beacham, Shirley Dixon, and Stephen Greif.
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