John Le Carré : The Honourable Schoolboy (3xCD) BBC Audio : Dramatisation

John Le Carré         The Honourable Schoolboy

George Smiley is one of the most brilliantly realised characters in British fiction. Bespectacled, tubby, eternally middle-aged and deceptively ordinary, he has a mind like a steel trap and is said to possess `the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin'. Smiley, now head of the Circus, must rebuild trust in the shattered organisation. He is also determined to destroy his nemesis, Karla, and his spy networks. He recruits Jerry Westerby, occasional spy, occasional news reporter, full-time romantic - the Honourable Schoolboy of the title - and despatches him to the Far East, where, amidst the corruption and decay of former colonies, a new battle is about to begin... Starring the award-winning Simon Russell Beale as Smiley, and with a star cast including Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Steed and Anna Chancellor, this gripping dramatisation perfectly captures the atmosphere of le Carre's intricate, intriguing novel, the second in the Karla trilogy.

BBC Radio Dramatisation

Full Cast

3 x CD

3 Hours

EXCELLENT

All Discs in Perfect Scratch Free Condition.

GRADING INFORMATION

MINT Not a word to be used lightly. All CDs will be damaged to some extent when they are used, even when great care is taken putting the disc in or taking the disc out of the player. I will only use this word to describe a disc I have reason to believe has never been used, this will usually mean it will be described as new but the word mint is there just in case I need it.

EXCELLENT A disc that looks like it has never been used even though I know it has. Perfect, scratch free condition.

VERY GOOD As previously stated, all CDs will be damaged to some extent when they are used, this usually means that the CD has rubbed against the tray in the player causing light surface scratches or rub marks. These rarely have any effect on play, in fact any CD that does have these marks will have been fully tested before it is allowed into the VERY GOOD grade. The best way to describe it is, if you found the CD in a second hand shop or on a market stall and you checked the disc before buying, you would see the marks but you wouldn't have any doubts about the discs ability to play. A plus or minus sign (+ or -) indicates how close the disc is to being in the higher or lower grade.

GOOD If you found the CD in a second hand shop or on a market stall and you checked the disc before buying, you would hesitate before buying a CD with a GOOD grade without first checking what the returns policy was. It looks like it will play but you wouldn't like to guarantee it. Rest assured, all CDs that I put in the GOOD grade will have been fully tested and be guaranteed to work perfectly (and the return policy ain't bad either). A plus or minus sign (+ or -) indicates how close the disc is to being in the higher or lower grade.

ACCEPTABLE Looks like it won't play but will have been fully tested and is guaranteed to work perfectly.

POOR Everything else. I'll probably throw it in the bin, but if there is a reason I think this might still be of interest to someone I'll explain the problems and the reasons for bothering with it in the listing.