 Over the years, Stewart took roles in many major television series without ever becoming a household name.He appeared as Vladimir Lenin in "Fall of Eagles"; Sejanus in "I, Claudius"; Karla in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Smiley's People"; Claudius in a 1980 BBC adaptation of "Hamlet".He even took the romantic male lead in the 1975 BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's "North and South".