Tinker tailor soldier spy

So I have just watched the film. It is a difficult film to watch, because I kept thinking about the famous TV series. The film was so much shorter than the series, so everything was very stripped down. I know that I should be able ti get past the series, but I can't. The time of the series is also a history lesson because it shows the time before Thatcher's evil influence started the final major decline of the UK.