Portugal Locations (Part One) - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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In October 1978, filming began in Portugal on one of the most ambitious drama series the BBC would ever undertake. The cast and crew of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy spent ten days in the country filming scenes that would form almost the entirety of episode two. In the novel, the scenes featuring Ricki Tarr and Irina are set in Hong Kong but early drafts of the script had relocated the action to Malta. With cost a key factor, the production team eventually made the decision to film in Portugal, with le Carré's approval.

Hywel Bennett as Ricki Tarr at the Painel do Fado in Lisbon

Regular visitors to this website will recall an excellent series of articles by Chris about the Paris locations in Smiley’s People. Those articles are not yet concluded but I'm delighted to say Chris is now writing a new series about the filming locations in Portugal.  He takes up the story as the credits fade out at the start of episode two... 

At 1:58 we see Ricki Tarr, played by Hywel Bennett and Tufty Thessinger, played by Thorley Walters walking up Rua do Alecrim in Lisbon.

Behind them are numerous political slogans and insignia. On April the 25th 1974, radical factions within the Portuguese armed forces overthrew the fascist dictatorship that had governed the country for more than fifty years. Left wing activists returned from exile and the graffiti is part of their propaganda. I've been able to identify some of it.

UNIAO DA__VENTUDE COMUNISTA REVO____ This seems to be the UJC which still carries on today.

We can see details of an event on the wall in this shot:

The text reads:

COMICO

ENCERRAMENTO

I CONGRESSO

Dia 11 Dez 15h Pav da AMANDORA

That is an advertisement for a rally concerning the closure of a congress on the 11th December at 15:00 at Amandora, which is a northern suburb of Lisbon. As we can see below, KGB is scrawled on the wall right next to it. 

Then there is this drawing on the wall which we've managed to recreate by joining up a number of images:

The figure is holding a sword in his left hand and possibly a shield in his right - they are symbols of the KGB.

The tracking shot would have been achieved by mounting the camera on a dolly on rails. Here is a photograph of possibly the same equipment in use a month later when the production filmed in Glasgow.

John Rundle explains what we see going on here:

In the picture, the camera is mounted on an Egripment Mini Jib on an Elemack Spyder Camera Dolly. The operation of the jib is quite easy if everything is well balanced and the dolly is not moving. It starts to get interesting as the camera operator has to move with the dolly over cobbles, whilst looking through the camera viewfinder with one eye and watching where their feet are going with the other.

To make things more difficult, on Rua do Alecrim, they were going uphill as this street view of the opposite pavement illustrates...

We catch sight of a man watching the filming and what looks like a pine coffin on a roof rack on a Mark 1 Ford Escort Estate…

Tarr and Thessinger reach the end of the wall…

...where somebody has scrawled MNR. I ought to point out that I've never been to Lisbon so if anyone is able to tell us what this means please write to us at guinnessissmiley@icloud.com Whilst the graffiti is gone (see below), it remains a part of Lisbon's culture.

Whilst they wait to cross, a tram passes baring an advertisement for PETROLEO OLEX which is a hair tonic.

I am indebted to an anonymous contributor to this website who has identified that Tarr and Thessinger continue their conversation on Praca Luis de Camoes.

The advertisement in the screenshot above is for Vinho Verde. The name means 'green wine', but translates as ‘young wine’, with wine being released three to six months after the grapes are harvested.

These scenes of Tarr and Thessinger walking together were likely amongst the first shot in Portugal on Wednesday 11th or Thursday 12th October 1978.

At 2:46, the action moves to the interior of the Service's office, the location also identified by our previously mentioned contributor. When we explored these locations before we felt the sign on Thessinger's office door showed the correct address - Rua de Ferragial. Further investigation suggests it is possible that the entrance to this apartment may have been in Rua Vitor Cordon (the street directly behind) but the balcony overlooks Rua de Ferragial. Filming took place here on Saturday 14th October 1978.

As Tarr looks south across the River Tagus…

…we can match the building in this shot and speculate about the location of the ‘Atlas’ sign…

This is the view today…

The earlier screenshot of Tarr looking across the Tagus also shows the shipyard at Almada in the far distance, on the other side of the river. Perhaps the location of the Station's office would have been carefully chosen by the Circus to afford a view of Portugal's defence infrastructure?!

All the scenes described so far are not present in the novel. The screenplay introduces the Lisbon operation and also Tarr's target, Boris, played by Hilary Minster.

At 3:19, we follow Tarr observing Boris, first at a restaurant and then a nightclub - I have managed to identify both locations.

A reverse image search led to the cover of Vera Monica's LP, Live At Painel Do Fado - Portuguese Until The End, released in 1980.

Painel do Fado is further confirmed by comparison of the architecture, especially the wall lights...

...in an edition of Fados On The Fado Panel filmed by RTP in 1986, Tilla Maria performs Herminia de Lisboa.

John Irvin's cast and crew filmed at Painel do Fado, 65 - 67 Rua San Pedro de Alcantara in Lisbon, on Tuesday the 17th of October 1978. Painel do Fado is referred to by fans as 'the old Painel do Fado'. Today, the venue is an Italian restaurant called La Fiorentina (see below).

Fado is Portuguese blues, the singer is resigned to sadness, poverty and loneliness but remaining dignified and firmly controlled.

The identity of the singer and song have long been the subject of discussion on-line. I can confirm the song is ‘Estranha Forma de Vida’…

…but it is not Amalia Rodrigues performing it in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and unfortunately the singer's name remains unknown. 

Ricki Tarr then follows Boris to a nightclub, an establishing shot at 5:47…

John Irvin's crew filmed the next day at Texas Bar, 24 Rua Nova de Carvelho. The road was described in the 1970's as Rua das Putas (which translates bluntly as 'Street of Whores'). It was the red light district of Lisbon and Texas Bar was notorious for satisfying the needs of sailors who had not seen land or sex for a long, long time. As the sailors dance with the women...

...we hear smooch-rock music and we do not see the performers at all. At Texas Bar, the musicians play in a boat suspended from the ceiling - if they filmed the musicians it did not make the cut.

In 1982, Wim Wenders filmed Der Stand der Dinge at Texas Bar. Here is the entrance at 1:00:52 in this video...

...and just afterwards, one of the players sat…

...where Boris did three or four years previously.

There was a crackdown on vice in Lisbon in 1977 so by the time the BBC filmed, Pink Street was already less seedy...

...and the culture has continued to change. Texas Bar is called Musicbox today - the entrance is just under the arch to the right in this streetview.  

The road over the arch is Rua do Alecrim where we picked up Tarr and Thessinger at the start of this article. Finally, we will look at where all of these locations are in relation to each other...

The section marked by the box above can be seen in more detail below…

Next time, we will follow Ricki Tarr back to Lisbon Station where he reports to Thessinger.

For those interested, you can read an article about the scenes that bookend the Portugal material in episode two here.

If you have any information about the making of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Smiley's People that you think would be of interest to visitors to this website feel free to get in touch at guinnessissmiley@icloud.com 

Screenshots from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (c) BBC 1979

Street view images and maps by Apple and Google