Bill Haydon

Bill Haydon is a fictional character created by John le Carré.He was played in the television version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by Ian Richardson.

Biography

Bill Haydon is recruited into the Circus (John le Carré's lightly fictionalised version of MI6/SIS) in 1938 while a brilliant student at Oxford University. He is an aesthete, academically brilliant, charming, and, it appears, smitten with fellow student Jim Prideaux, an acclaimed athlete. Haydon introduces Prideaux to the Circus "talent spotters" and the two rise through the Circus through World War II, with Haydon ascending to become one of the senior officers in London and Prideaux a resourceful field agent.

It is never made clear whether a physical relationship developed with Prideaux, although Haydon's bisexuality is referred to at several points in the novel.

As it turns out, Haydon is a double agent working for Moscow Centre. As he rises within the Circus, Haydon (code-named "Gerald") introduces a new (and ultimately bogus) Russian intelligence source called "Merlin", the product of the source being termed "Witchcraft". Percy Alleline is keen to use this source as a bargaining chip with the CIA.

Control, the anonymous chief of the Circus, comes to suspect that there is a mole deep in the Circus. After much thought, he eliminates all but Alleline, Roy Bland, George Smiley, Haydon and Toby Esterhase from his suspicions. But after the failure of Operation Testify (in which Jim Prideaux expects to be told the mole's identity by anti-Soviet, Czech General Stevcek, but, instead, is betrayed and shot) Control is forced out of power; Alleline becomes Chief and Haydon assumes control of London Station, which he manoeuvres into being placed in control of all foreign stations - effectively giving Haydon unfettered access to intelligence and details of operations. Because of this the Circus' intelligence sources dwindle to almost nothing other than the "Witchcraft".

At about this time, Haydon cuckolds George Smiley, indulging in an affair with his wife Lady Ann on the orders of his Russian controller Karla in order to discredit any suspiscions Smiley may have or develop.

Smiley's investigations eventually unmask Haydon as a mole. Under interrogation, he reveals that he is a full Colonel in Soviet intelligence. Plans are set in motion to exchange Haydon for Western agents held in the Eastern bloc. Before this can happen, though, he is killed in revenge by Jim Prideaux.

Background

Haydon is portrayed rather in the mould of real-life double agent Kim Philby who is known to have compromised le Carré's own career in MI6; certainly his actions parallel Philby's ability to paralyse the British intelligence service. Haydon claims that, although he was recruited by Karla at university in the 1930s, he only became a serious agent for them following the Suez crisis when it became clear to him that Britain was no longer a world power and, in his view, was subservient to America. This perceived inferiority led to Haydon developing a deep hatred for America and resolved him to damage them as much as possible by spying for the Russians