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Sadly none of the videos work any more but this article from Adam Curtis’ archived BBC blog is a fascinating read. I often think about it in the context of Slow Horses, which feels a more accurate reflection of ‘the Service’ than Le Carre or James Bond. www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/h...

bbc.co.ukBUGGERBUGGER The recent revelations by the whistleblower Edward Snowden were fascinating. But they - and all the reactions to them - had one enormous assumption at their heart. That the spies know what t...

11/10/26, 1:58 pm0 reposts0 likes

Ian Pointer

@carsondial.bsky.social

Le Carre did work there, at least. Slow Horses often strays a bit too far into “every single person except Lamb is suffering from a massive head injury” (whereas Lamb himself has a backstory cribbed straight from Le Carre)

Bone Direcrow

@kapowaz.net

Indeed, although Le Carre himself admitted even his invented world was one with much more competence than the reality:

Ian Pointer

@carsondial.bsky.social

True! (It’s also worth mentioning that both Tinker, Tailor and Smiley’s People are really low stakes - just defectors rather than anything major!)

Bone Direcrow

@kapowaz.net

One thing I enjoyed about S2 of Slow Horses was the idea that the Cicada idea could have been disregarded as a hoax, when actually it was true, and that Dickie Bough’s story about being force-fed vodka was real. That they’d find the story of him being an alcoholic on a bender more plausible!