TV: Spooks season 1

A couple of months ago, I was lamenting about how awesome Spooks season 7 was and how I would now have to watch the whole of Spooks seasons 1 to 6 now because of that awesomeness. 

How convenient then that new digital channel Watch decided to start airing Spooks from the very first episode immediately after season 7 finished?

We're about half way through season 2 now and I have trying to figure out how on earth we could have missed an absolute gem of a show like this.  Could it be that airing so soon after our wedding, Spooks was just too gritty, realistic and riveting for honeymoon couple Mister and Missus Emm?  I have no idea but thanks to the digital age and reruns, we're now catching up and making up for our mistakes.

I'd be interested to know when production began on Spooks because it aired a mere 8 months after the 9/11 attacks and it is a ambitious spy drama after all.  But while it does make mention of the attacks and the changes taking hold of the world at that time, it doesn't focus solely on Islamic fundamentalists like so many other spy shows began to do.  Even shows that I loved and respected, like JAG, showed a sharp change in focus and storylines at that time.  It was understandable, of course, in fact I imagine that television played a major role in helping people comes to terms with what had happened in the world; but it is a welcome change in Spooks.

Spooks is famous for killing of its characters but I am happy to say that apart from knowing everyone is going to die, we've not encountered any other spoilers.  That wasn't a real spoiler, by the way, because not everyone dies and I didn't tell you who was left behind so yeah, not a spoiler.

And what would one of my posts be without a gratuitous screen cap or photo of the hot leading man?

[photo source]

Matthew MacFadyen is without a doubt the star of the show in the early seasons and he is excellent as senior case officer Tom Quinn.  He is absolutely gorgeous and I can't get enough of this brooding, serious man.

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Season: Spooks season 7

I work in an open plan office with a couple of flat out television addicts. Many people have commented that on starting at our company, they thought that the heated and animated discussions related to friends and family dramas, the trials, tribulations, hook ups and betrayals evident in modern relationships. Sadly, however, it emerges that my colleagues are usually talking about the reality TV show of the day, be it Big Brother UK, I'm A Celebrity or Strictly Come Dancing. They get so involved with it! Anyway, a recent discussion centred around the new season of Spooks, a series I had surprisingly never watched despite glowing recommendation from my friends and a general attraction to the spy / terrorism genre of television drama. Not wanting to sit around for an entire season listening to spoilers on the show, I decided to watch season 7 of this UK television series.

Being a shameless wench, one of the major drawing points of this series has to be the gorgeous Rupert Penry-Jones in his role as Adam Carter.

Warning - episode one spoiler below.


The man is absolutely gorgeous and so of course they kill him off in the first episode! Well, I guess I am going to have to spend 2009 catching up with the first six seasons of Spooks then!

All is not lost though for two reasons. The most immediate (and lighter) reason is that Richard Armitage is added to the cast a Lucas North.

I can't possibly imagine why I didn't really notice Richard Armitage in his role as Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood (it could have to do with having to be revived every time I saw Harry Lloyd on screen). I bloody well noticed him in Spooks though - he is absolutely, smolderingly gorgeous.

Guess I'll have to spend some 2009 time watching both seasons of Robin Hood again as well. Oh, what a hardship.

The second (less silly) reason for watching Spooks-after-Adam is that it is a really, really good series. I enjoyed every single episode and I can understand now why people say it is so good. As in, good enough to watch all 8 episodes again to pick up on what I missed while getting to know the characters; and good enough to go back and watch the preceding 6 seasons. It is a gritty spy drama that is up there with the ultimate master n the genre (in my not-so-humble-opinion), 24. The obvious difference is that Spooks has really short seasons of 6 to 10 episodes long which makes for effective and explosive bursts of action and I really think this is a winning formula.

This is definitely one of my favourite shows now. Oh, might as well be shameless, while I'm at it:

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