First Look: Macfadyen and Hunnam Lead Legacy of Spies
Matthew Macfadyen is George Smiley and Charlie Hunnam is Alec Leamas in the first pictures from Legacy of Spies.
The stills were released as filming wrapped on the eight-part series, meaning an eight-episode run, for the BBC and MGM+, Variety reported on 28 September. First-look is industry shorthand for officially released images used to introduce a show's lead characters and tone.
The drama adapts John le Carré's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and draws on material from his 2017 novel A Legacy of Spies. The story follows Smiley's quest for his nemesis, Russian master-spy Karla, during the Cold War, the decades-long standoff between East and West.
Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram are the showrunners and writers, meaning the pair in overall creative charge of the series. Michael Lennox serves as an executive producer, a senior role covering creative and business decisions, and held lead directorial duties. Lead direction means setting the visual template that other directors on the run then follow.
Macfadyen's confirmation closes a long casting trail. BBC News noted in March 2025 that Variety had linked him to Smiley. The new images confirm him in the part opposite Hunnam's Leamas.
They head a large ensemble. Daniel Brühl, Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu, Agnes O'Casey, Felix Kammerer, Dan Stevens, Jake Dunn, Anjana Vasan, Charlotte Ritchie, Joe Alwyn and Hugh Laurie all star.
The production was made by The Ink Factory. The BBC said filming had begun in April 2026, and the completed shoot was based principally in the Czech Republic, with location work in the U.K. and Germany. A wrapped shoot means the main block of filming is complete, with editing, music and effects still to follow.
The BBC first outlined the project in December 2025 as Smiley's Cold War pursuit of Karla, then confirmed the full company when cameras started rolling the following spring.
In Britain, the series will launch on BBC iPlayer, the BBC's streaming service, and BBC One, its flagship broadcast channel. In the U.S., Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Brazil and Spanish-speaking Latin America, it will launch on MGM+, the premium pay TV and streaming service.
The sales net goes wider still. It will air on SBS in Australia, Sky New Zealand and Sky Switzerland, and on CANAL+ across France and French-speaking territories, Central and Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.
For viewers, this means the pieces are in place. The scripts are shot, the cast is confirmed and the broadcast homes are set. A launch date has not yet been made public.
