The Russia House cover art

The Russia House

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £6.03

Buy Now for £6.03

About this listen

 In the third year of perestroika, London publisher Barley Blair is sent a manuscript from Moscow. Exposing Russian nuclear threats as a sham, the information - if it’s genuine - could shatter East-West relations. Jazz-loving, hard-drinking Blair is hardly the spymasters’ idea of the perfect agent, yet they are forced to send him to Moscow to make contact. But the Cold War thaws when Barley meets Katya, the beautiful Russian intermediary who is equally sceptical of state ideology. Mere pawns in a deadly game of international espionage, they nevertheless represent the breakdown of hostilities and a future which poses a huge threat to the entrenched professionals on both sides... Both a gripping spy saga and a poignant love story, The Russia House delivers all the excitement and tension expected from the master of espionage fiction. This BBC Radio 4 adaptation was dramatised by René Basilico. Classics Espionage Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Adaptation Russia Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
I have not seen the film version, but I enjoyed listening to this BBC dramatisation. Tom Baker delivers a brilliant performance as the flawed Barley. Carre writes and explores the weaknesses of the human nature - love, betrayal, and duplicity. I find the drama of personal relationships between the characters fascinating, along with the involvement of the secret services.
Again with Carre, we are left wondering...

Left wondering...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Tom Baker held this together with his usual reviewer a performance. The adaptation feels a little dated (goes back to 1994) and with the exception of Katya, the female roles are almost laughably secondary.

One major frustration is that the credits to the BBC production has been removed. It’s a disservice to the actors that they are not properly credited for the work that they do.

As always with Le Carré, a great listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Can not quite put my finger on why this one does not appeal to me nor capture my attention in the same way all my other le Carre’s in the collection do. Something different about the main characters did not appeal nor feel any empathy. Quite left me feeling out in the cold. I hope that I will want to re listen to this when the mood takes me and maybe feel different. I have all the other le Carre’s in this collection and have enjoyed them all so much that I have eagerly purchased the next one and re listened to them all.


NOT MY FAVOURITE

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have to say that this adaptation is a must for those who have enjoyed BBC Radio 4's recent "The complete Smiley". Tom Baker is utterly magnificent as Barley, a larger than life character. It is one of those dramatisations you find yourself listening to from start to finish in one sitting.

Top notch dramatisation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It's a tough call to be compared against the original novel - one of le Carre's finest in my opinion - and the near perfect Connery screen version. This three hour radio version is at times sublime at others, painfully careless. It's strange that the film version is half the length but manages to encapsulate the original far more effectively that this version. I suspect the whole cast knew the film version well and struggled to escape emulating it. In some ways this was a plus. Baker is wonderful. But I listened to him and saw Connery. I think his best ever role. The Walter scenes, especially the final one are confusing. It's all a little out of kilter. Bad editing at the last moment I suspect. However, overall not a bad way to spend three hours or so in the company of Le Carre's wonderful imagination and vision.

Sometimes what's left unsaid.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews