From Our Agent In The Field - Tinker Tailor Locations

Now that this website has been established for a few years I'm delighted that we are receiving contributions from some of our visitors. My hope was always that this would be a collaborative endeavour and it's great to see an increasing number of emails from fans of the series popping up in my inbox.

One such email, from a correspondent who would prefer to remain anonymous, shares research on Tinker Tailor locations in Portugal and Austria.

Let's start in Lisbon...

Praça Luís de Camões - this is where Tufty briefs Ricki about Boris on the streets.

Convento Velho da Arrábida - where Irina tells Ricki she thinks he is an English spy.

Portinho da Arrábida (below the convent) - where Ricki and Irina go to bed. It was formerly a small hotel, the bedroom was in the roof of the tallest building on the left.

Changing countries for a moment here’s the Czecho border crossing at Mikulov that was filmed from the Austrian side of the border (the close up scenes of Prideaux in the car were likely filmed in Scotland).

The Austrian border point opposite Mikulov (where Prideaux sets off from) was Drasenhofen, which leads straight to Milkulov and from there to Brno which fits with the plot. Below is a street view aligned with the first shot of the white Mercedes. 

Here are similar comparison shots of the stretch between border posts looking towards Czecho.

Hopping back to Portugal, the scene where Tarr asks Thesinger to use the office toys to message Alleline was filmed in Lisbon at Largo das Portas do Sol and it's in a different location to the interior office scenes.

You can see below a comparison shot of the lobby and stairs as they look today (on the left) and as they appeared in the series (on the right).

Interior shots were at 38 Rua de Ferragial which is nowadays private property.  The address was correctly added to a BBC prop for the Thessinger office sign (see below). A modelling agency now occupies the lower part of the building.

Our correspondent confirmed the location by lining up the rooftops seen from the balcony on Google Earth.  

Finally, we can confirm that Ricki and Irina met at the Prezeres Cemetery in Lisbon. A contemporary photo (below) on the left matches with a screenshot on the right.

This was also the location of the dead-letter drop - I wonder if Irina's notebook is still there?! 

If you would like to share any research you have done about Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Smiley's People with visitors to this website please drop us a line at guinnessissmiley@icloud.com