MI-5 / Spooks (1 Viewer)

Anyone else a fan of this show? It is called MI-5 in the US, but its proper title is Spooks - that is what the show is called in the UK and it is of course a reference to spies.

I expect that it's pricing - in the stratosphere compared to most TV-on-DVD - has kept it from being the kind of succesful import it could be.

I bought the first season (or "series" as our brothers overseas call it) mainly because of the guest starring role of Anthony Head ("Giles", the mentor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and was impressed by the series as a whole.

Finally saved up enough to buy the second season, and though it has started off slow, by the fourth episode it appears to have nearly returned to the quality level of season one.

An incidental note about the DVDs. They have the silliest menu screens ever. A spy wearing a balaclava breaks into an office and sits at a desk - and then you, the viewer, select items on the desktop to play either the episode or the bonus materials. But what makes this little skit a disaster is the guy wearing the balaclava didn't know how to wear it, so he has his nose hanging out of the eye-slot! Good disguise there, Mr. I Can See Your Nose. Some spook!

What are other people's impressions of the seasons? Is there a season three on air or coming to DVD? What is it about British shows not putting makeup on their actors? Is this a good or a bad thing? Etc.

The third season aired (on A&E I think). I refused to watch since they cut 10-15 minutes out for commericals. No clue when the third season will come out on DVD, but I'm dying to find out.

Don't have any idea about a fourth season...

Great show.

Great show, I expect the third season in January since that was the timing of the previous series. As for the menu screen, I rather like it, and given that those DVDs literally have more content and extras than any other series I know of, the pricing isnt' that bad.

The show is freakin' brilliant, and it's one I recommend to people all the time.

Yes, it's a bit expensive, but as Katherine noted, there's a lot of content on there.

I don't think we'll see season 3 this year, probably early 2006.

Gord

The 3rd series is coming out in Region 2 soon, I believe, and a fourth series is coming to the BBC in "late 2005".

Katherine and Gord, I just put a season 2 disc into my computer and noticed that the scripts to the series are there in PDF form, and there are wallpapers too! The wallpapers all have the UK name of the program, which is fine. Same wallpapers on every disc though.

I finished watching season 2, and by chance I didn't realize I was on the last episode (bizarrely short UK seasons and all). My theory is that...

Tom is tripping out and that pretty much everything in the episode is his hallucination. They made that pretty clear with the bright blue flowers all around him when he was being kicked around by that guy... and it was similarly odd that despite being kicked in the head twice he didn't even have a bloody nose. Basically any scene with him in it, I don't think was occurring as we saw it.

I didn't particularly like this plot development - it seemed out of the blue, and made me wonder if they basically weren't happy with the actor's performance and were trying to write him out.

I didn't like the sudden plot development of the not-too-bright office assistant either. Came on way to quickly.

I'll want season three to resolve this mess, anyway. Plus, Zoey's character is great.

Does anyone on here watch this anymore ??

They are about to air Season 8 in October but i have just got to near the end of Season 6. Have to say this season has been one of the best ones yet and a really good decision was made to have one main storyline over the course of the 10 episodes.
Love the way they kill off characters or get rid of them leaving you never sure who will be around by the end of any episode (except for Harry, though you never know) It certainly keeps things tense (but please bring back Ruth!!!!)
Would love them to bring this out on bluray.

I LOVE this show! It's a modern day Spy series with great twists and turns. I only wish it was aired in the States more than it is. I have to wait for the DVDs to come out.

Ok Now Ive reached the end of Season 7 and have to wait until November for the next season to air on TV. Typically it ends on a great cliffhanger.

Whats has been fantastic about the show is that 7 seasons in it just keeps getting better and somehow Season 7 turned out to be the best one yet. Ok theres only about 10 episodes per season (8 in Season 7) but they know how to make every episode count. Also great is how well they keep an overall arc going for the show for long time viewers like myself but still manage to make the individual episodes stand alone as well.

Id really recommend this to anyone who loves shows like 24, but IMO it is much better, especially since 24 doesnt seems as good anymore seven years in. What Im really impressed with is how often they manage to catch me out with a twist at the end and sometimes it is really tense stuff. The opening episode of Season 7 floored me (not least because there was a major surprise that I wasnt expecting, though in hindsight with the rest of the show like it is, I should have expected it).

Great to see that the BBC can commission great drama series that arent just literary adaptations or period dramas. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a new TV show to watch. If you arent hooked by the end of the 6-episode Season 1....

I picked up Series 1 of Spooks at the library over the summer during my go-nowhere holiday. Much better than I expected. Does Series 2 take off where Series 1 left off?

I rented the first couple of seasons. They were very good but I stopped when...

The first cast of agents all either left the agency or were killed.

I never really picked it back up after that. So I take it you feel it got even better as it continued?

Each series continues after the other - some end on cliffhangers, some dont.
Brad - Personally I feel every season has improved on the one before.

I was also disappointed when the first set of agents left the show, and it took me a few episodes to get used to the new characters but most of them turned out to be just as good. And getting rid of the first main agents left you with a feeling that no-one in the show is safe, which makes a lot of episodes much more tense. What was great is they didnt just leave deaths or exits from the show until the last episode - it could be any episode.

As the show got more popular, its clear they got a bigger budget, and they also got more confidence to try different things. The first five seasons generally have self contained episodes with some elements continuing (mainly to do with the characters) but the sixth season saw a major change as the whole season was devoted to a continuing arc and this was for the better. They are also great at staying relevant to current events that are happening (Season 6 was about Iran, and Season 7 focused on Russia).

Some of the characters dont quite gel sometimes, but they know what to do with those!!! This doesnt happen very often and most of the new characters introduced are just as good if not better then the ones from the first 2 seasons.

Be very careful about seeking out more information on the show. Ive seen some fans sites and forums devoted to Spooks and there are huge spoilers on them. Even the IMDb page gives you an idea that something is going to happen, though it isnt updated often and not current or always accurate. This show has a lot of twists and turns each season, some of which genuinely surprised me and it would not have the same impact if you knew what was coming.

Oh and make sure each episode is about 55 min. I heard they cut the episodes down for broadcast in American to about 40 min for adverts (no adverts when the show is broadcast on the BBC so it has to last the full hour). How they did that I have no idea since that is a lot to cut out. I think the MI5 DVDs though are uncut (the Region 2 ones called Spooks are definitely uncut)

Well the final episode of Spooks has now aired and after 10 seasons its all over. After a dodgy Season 9, Spooks has been back to its best this season and finished with one of the best episodes in a while. If your invested in the 2 main characters, the final 10 minutes are simply un believably emotional - I don't want to say happy or sad because that would spoil what is nearly a perfect end and the final scene is really the only way it could have ended. Im going to miss this show and can only hope that a Bluray release is in the works at some point so I can revisit this.