Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
A Russian nesting doll opening onto a blank face, over Geoffrey Burgon's setting of the Nunc Dimittis — the most quietly devastating title sequence the BBC has made.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy opens with a main title sequence of 143 seconds.
At 143 seconds, it opens well above the 50-second median for drama sequences in this catalogue.
It arrived on BBC Two in 1979, when The Old Grey Whistle Test, The Morecambe & Wise Show and The Goodies were also on the network.
The opening titles
Season 1
143sThe opening sequence, with the matryoshka and the choral setting.
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