New George Smiley series planned

Fictional spy George Smiley is making a return to TV.

Author John Le Carre\'s character was last played on the small screen by the late Sir Alec Guinness in \'Smiley\'s People\' 36 years ago and in cinemas by Gary Oldman in 2011\'s \'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy\' and now the fictional spy is set for a comeback in a number of miniseries.

Simon and Stephen Cornwell, who are the authors sons and have served as executive producers on both \'The Night Manager\' and upcoming thriller \'The Little Drummer Girl\', have confirmed they will next work on the George-featuring \'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold\' and hope it will be the first of many series for the character.

Stephen told The Sun newspaper\'s Bizarre TV column: "We are developing \'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold\'. We are looking at a six-hour adaptation right now.

"And we hope it will launch a Smiley journey."

As well as \'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold\', the author wrote nine other books featuring the intelligence officer.

It is not yet known who the producers have in line to play the iconic role.

Gary previously admitted portraying the spy almost gave him a nervous breakdown while he was preparing for \'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy\'.

He previously said: "I had let it get to a point where it was going to crush me. It almost gave me a bloody nervous breakdown, I was so caught up in the fear of this."

However, his fears were eradicated when he started filming.

He said: "I did the first scene, and once I had opened my mouth and started doing it, I said to myself, \'I know where I am. I\'m on a set and I\'m acting\'."