The Smiley trilogy became more famous through the television presentations in 1982 starring Alec Guinness, where it was seen by more than twentyfive million people. Guinness gave Smiley a flesh-and-blood personality and endeared him to audiences in a way that le Carre was not able to do. Le Carre never entered into the filming of these works, and thus another interpretation emerged.

For awhile, he maintained that the popular television personality of Smiley prevented him from continuing with any further Smiley stories. Alec Guinness, he says, "took Smiley away from me." People now had a picture of Smiley different from the one he had given him, and it would be hard for him to return to his story. Even so, le Carre returned to Smiley in novels such as The Secret Pilgrim and would even credit Guinness with helping him deepen his characterization of Smiley.