THE BBC will follow up the success of Golden Globe- winning series The Night Manager with an adaptation of another John le Carre novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
The book, set in the height of the Cold War months after the erection of the Berlin Wall, is being adapted by the Oscar-winning writer of Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy.
The BBC1 show will be another co-production with US network AMC, following the huge success of joint effort The Night Manager, which starred Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman. All three actors scored Golden Globes for their roles in the drama, which was nominated for best mini series or TV film.
It was also nominated for a string of Emmys, with director Susanne Bier taking home the prize for outstanding directing for a limited series, movie or dramatic special.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, which was written in 1963, follows Alec Leamas, a hard-working, hard-drinking British intelligence officer whose East Berlin network is in tatters.
His agents are either on the run or dead at the hands of East German counter-intelligence officer Hans-Dieter Mundt until Leamas is offered a chance of revenge when he returns to London.
In 1965, the novel was made into a film starring Richard Burton and le Carre has said he is looking forward to seeing it on screen again.
He added: “I’m very excited by the project and have great confidence in the team.”
During the 1950s and 60s, le Carre worked for the Security Service and the Secret Intelligence Service and began writing novels under his pen name.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was his third novel and became an international best-seller. Following its success, le Carre left MI6 to become a full-time author.
The BBC adaptation of the novel will be produced by The Ink Factory, the same company behind The Night Manager.
Beaufoy said: “It’s incredibly exciting to be working on the best Cold War spy story ever written.”
Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, added: “Following the huge global success of The Night Manager, it’s a privilege to announce John le Carre will return to BBC1 with one of the best spy thrillers ever written.
“We are thrilled to be working with The Ink Factory and AMC again to bring this seminal novel to the screen for another unmissable drama series on BBC1.”
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