The BBC and MGM+ have released first-look images from their new eight-part spy drama "Legacy of Spies", featuring Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) as the iconic character George Smiley. This marks Smiley's return to television for the first time in four decades, with the character last played by Alec Guinness, although he appeared in the 2011 film "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" starring Gary Oldman. The series represents one of the most highly-anticipated UK-US co-productions of the coming year, with production now concluded in the Czech Republic.

The story, adapted from John le Carré's "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" and supplemented with material from "A Legacy of Spies" (2017), follows spy Alec Leamas (Charlie Hunnam) as he recruits a young East German woman to smuggle Stasi documents during the Cold War, triggering dangerous events in Berlin. The ensemble cast includes Daniel Brühl, Hugh Laurie as Control, Joe Alwyn, Dan Stevens, and others. The series will launch on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, MGM+ across the US and several European territories, SBS in Australia, CANAL+ in France and Africa, and other regional broadcasters.