The Ink Factory Sets Le Carre Series “Legacy of Spies” for BBC and MGM+

Award-winning London and LA-based independent studio The Ink Factory (The Pigeon Tunnel, The Night Manager) is producing landmark series Legacy of Spies for the BBC in the UK and MGM+ in the US, in co-production with Berlin-based Academy Award-winning label Amusement Park Film (All Quiet on the Western Front) and in association with 127 Wall Productions and Paramount Television Studios. The series’ cast will be anchored by celebrated actors – two time Emmy® and Bafta award winning actor Matthew Macfadyen (Death by Lighting, Succession, Deadpool) as George Smiley, Charlie Hunnam (Monster, Sons of Anarchy, The Gentlemen) as the British intelligence officer Alec Leamas, Daniel Brühl (Inglorious Basterds, Rush, Captain America: Civil War) as East German spy Jens Fielder and Devrim Lingnau Islamoglu (The Empress) as Doris Quinz aka Agent Tulip. The 8 x 1 hour season is slated to begin production in early 2026.

Stephen Cornwell (Message from the King, A Most Wanted Man, Unknown) will pen the screenplay alongside Clarissa Ingram, which will be set across the UK, and what was, in the time period of the story, East and West Germany and Czechoslovakia. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, dominated the world’s best-seller lists when it was first published in 1963, and remains one of le Carré’s best-selling novels today. The adaptation will also draw on material from le Carré’s 2017 novel – also a global #1 bestseller – A Legacy of Spies.

Spending eight months at the top of the New York Times bestseller list, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold begins in the shadow of the newly-erected Berlin Wall, as Alec Leamas watches his last agent shot dead by East German sentries. For Leamas, a senior British intelligence officer in Berlin, the Cold War is over. As he faces the prospect of retirement or worse – a desk job – Control offers him a unique opportunity for revenge. Assuming the guise of an embittered and dissolute ex-agent, Leamas is set up to trap Mundt, the deputy director of the East German Intelligence Service, with himself as the bait. In the background is George Smiley, ready to make the game play out just as Control wants.

A master and pioneer of the espionage genre throughout his decades-long writing career, which spanned from 1961 until his death, le Carré is hailed among many others by Stephen King as ‘a literary giant’ and by Margaret Atwood as ‘a towering writer’, whose most memorable fictional character is master-spy George Smiley. Legacy of Spies charts le Carré’s Smiley’s overarching quest for his nemesis, Russian master-spy Karla, through the defining era of our modern age, the Cold War.

Simon Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell, Founders and co-CEOs at The Ink Factory, said: “This project is in many ways the most ambitious and all-encompassing adaptation of le Carré’s work to date, taking our father’s best-known and most-loved most character – the complex and brilliant spymaster George Smiley – and using this medium as a canvas to chart his story as he moves through a world which culturally and politically shapes the one we live in today. To have Matthew embody this operational mastermind, a man both vulnerable and dangerous, alongside the brilliant talent of Charlie, Daniel, and Devrim, is a great coup. We are thrilled the series has found its home with the BBC and MGM+ and to be collaborating alongside Malte and the Amusement Park team, while having Graham’s wisdom, vision, and deft touch helping us guide this project – bringing his own mastery of the genre alongside that of le Carré’s.”

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, says: “Legacy of Spies is a dream le Carré project adapted by the brilliant Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram. We are thrilled to have The Ink Factory – who are the ultimate experts in this genre – making this series which stars some of our best actors; Matthew, Charlie, Devrim, and Daniel. BBC viewers are in for a very special treat!”

“The opportunity to partner with The Ink Factory, the BBC, and this remarkable creative team to tell the story of John le Carré’s legendary George Smiley is truly a dream project,” said Michael Wright, global head of MGM+. “MGM+ is building its brand around classic storytelling for a modern audience, and ‘Legacy of Spies‘ is the embodiment of that, with a brilliant cast led by Matthew Macfadyen and Charlie Hunnam. We’re thrilled to bring it to the MGM+ audience.”

Legacy of Spies is produced by The Ink Factory, in co-production with Amusement Park Film and in association with 127 Wall Productions and Paramount Television Studios, with Fifth Season handling global sales. Executive producers on the project include Stephen Cornwell, Graham Yost, Simon Cornwell, Michele Wolkoff, Malte Grunert, Chris Rice, Steve Clark-Hall, Matthew Macfadyen, Charlie Hunnam, Joe Tsai, and Arthur Wang. Susanne Bier and Mike Lesslie are also executive producers on the first season of Legacy of Spies. The executive producers for the BBC are Gaynor Holmes and Nick Lambon. Nick Cornwell is executive producer for the John le Carré estate. Sam Costin will serve as co-executive producer for The Ink Factory.

About The Ink Factory

The Ink Factory was founded by Stephen and Simon Cornwell as an independent film and television studio with global reach. The Ink Factory prides itself on taking bold, creative, and financial decisions to deliver ambitious, genre-defining work.

Recent The Ink Factory productions include the much anticipated second series of The Night Manager for BBC and Prime Video, starring Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine, returning cast members Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Crown), Alistair Petrie (Sex Education, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Douglas Hodge (Joker, Black Mirror) and Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place, Honey Boy) which is set to premiere on BBC in the UK January 2026, followed by Amazon Prime worldwide . On the features slate, The Ink Factory produced the Academy Award® Winner Errol Morris’ le Carré documentary The Pigeon Tunnel for Apple TV+, which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to strong critical acclaim.

In 2021, The Ink Factory established its Asia slate and associated financing facility, with backing from 127 Wall Productions, to deliver adaptations of John le Carré’s work into the major markets of Asia, and create a platform for the work of local talent and creators. Under the slate, The Ink Factory recently produced the Hindi-language version of The Night Manager for Disney+ Hotstar starring Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur, which was produced with Banijay Asia. The company is also developing an adaptation of espionage thriller A Most Wanted Man in partnership with Korean production company Vo Media.

The Ink Factory is headquartered in London and Los Angeles.