When Did Operation Testify Take Place?

I was very grateful to Chris for finding this excellent article by Ian Pointer about the differences between the UK and US versions of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It’s a good read and although it covers a lot of the ground from our own comparisons (here and here), it does go into more detail. (I do take issue with Ian’s assertion that there are no differences to be found in episode one - there aren’t many but they are detailed in the link to the first of our articles above.)

At the end of his article Ian proposes an interesting theory about exactly when Operation Testify takes place in the series. We know the events take place on a Saturday evening as Sam Collins tells Smiley he read the statement Hayden dictated over the phone the next morning in the Sunday papers. (Whether events happening in the early hours of Sunday morning would have made the Sunday papers back then is another matter, but it's conceivable they made the later editions.) To identify the date, Ian focuses on the football match Sam Collins is watching in the Night Duty Officer’s room. Ian correctly identifies the commentator is Barry Davies (which means this is a match shown on the BBC) and from the names of the players he’s right to conclude it features Ipswich Town. 

As it is supposed to be a Saturday night and Ipswich are in their away kit Ian looked to identify when Ipswich appeared in an away game on Match of the Day in 1977-78 and 1978-79. He suggests the footage was from a Manchester City v Ipswich match in the old First Division on the 25th November 1978. Now I thought this was a fair deduction but I knew Ian had missed some other possibilities as he hadn't considered that the footage might have been from a match in the League Cup, FA Cup or UEFA Cup. The commentary only mentions Ipswich Town players and doesn’t identify any players on the opposing team, which made me think this could have been taken from a midweek cup tie - if so the highlights would have been shown on Sportsnight, not Match of the Day.

But I discovered something that confirmed I was dead wrong and I'm pretty sure Ian is absolutely right!

Whilst looking through Youtube for footage from Ipswich's UEFA Cup matches I came across the highlights from Manchester City v Liverpool on 26th August 1978.

Notice any similarities between the image above and the one on Sam Collins' portable? Check out the large 'XL' on the advertising hoarding on left hand side. You can see it pretty clearly in the exact same position in the match Sam is watching. 

Manchester City's match with Ipswich took place just three months after the game with Liverpool and it was the only time Ipswich played at Maine Road that season. Advertising hoardings didn't change much during a season back in the 1970s, so I think this is a clincher for Ian's theory.

All of which means in the BBC adaption of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 'Operation Testify' took place on Saturday 25th November 1978.

Do check out the rest of Ian's excellent article.