What's with Toby's accent?
Haven't read the books but the way his accent changed from TTSS to SP is strange to the viewer - why?
shareIn Tinker Tailor he was trying to come across as a "Proper English Gentleman." After the debacle with Bill Haydon he almost certainly left the Service under a cloud. Three years later he had returned to his true identity, as he put it, "a cheap Hungarian in expensive clothes." He was no longer putting on airs. He had ceased trying to fit into the old boy's club.
shareI understand that but why did he suddenly start phrasing his sentences like he was struggling with English, if he spent all that time speaking fluent English why not just stop putting on the accent, instead he lost the ability to use tenses.
shareI agree. The idea that when someone is 'uncovered' they lose the ability to speak a second language properly and revert to speaking it badly is a real irritation.
More than this the entire character is different. Makes no sense at all.
I think the idea is that Toby is an example of an agent who totally "lives" his cover - almost to the extent that there is no "real Toby" to be revealed. Guillam reflects, in TTSS, that he shared an apartment for 3 months with Toby on a job, and had knew him no better after than he did before.
There is no real Toby to be discovered - just different version of the fake. Only when he is speaking Hungarian among Hungarians does Guillam see him come to life with any authenticity.
The contrast between Toby in "Smiley's People" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is actually pretty stark and Bernard Hepton carries it off very well. There's a scene in "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" when he's berating someone and affecting every possible aspect of an uppity English gent (which he's not), down to the Saville Row suit. He's even affecting a Rhotacism - pronouncing his "R's" as "W's", if you listen closely enough.
In "Smiley's People" he's more natural and less narcissistic - though even Toby would agree that he's not a very nice person. By then he's no longer trying to be a part of a gentlemen's club so he doesn't need the affectations anymore.