Spooks revolved around the operations of Section D, a counter-terrorism division of the British security services.
Right from the start, the series drew big viewing numbers for the BBC, with the brilliantly put-together promotional campaign attracting 9 million viewers on its first night. But that success brought with it near-instant controversy the following week when, in a shocking turn of events, the character of Helen, played by Lisa Faulkner, was killed off in brutal fashion.
The series had a high body count – a trainee agent had his face plunged into a deep-fat fryer and was then shot in the back of the head. When characters left the show, they usually did so in a body bag.
The secret sauce of the series was Harry Pearce, played by Peter Firth.
Where the majority of the cast came and went, Firth appeared in all 86 episodes, and by the time the series came to its final season, it did so with the quiet revelation that we had been watching Harry’s story the whole time.
The production team worked with a trio of former security agents from MI-5, the CIA, and the KGB to develop plots around probable security threats.
In the post-9/11 world, Cold War spy games were superseded by a preoccupation with terrorist activity, and an episode in the second series about suicide bombers drew complaints from Islamic groups concerned about their perception in the media. Two years later, real suicide attacks brought London to a standstill.
In 2009, BBC Three launched a spin-off series. Spooks: Code 9 was set in a near future where a small group of young adults were recruited to help protect a country paralysed after a nuclear attack.
Spooks was retitled MI-5 in North America, where each 60-minute episode was cut by almost a quarter to make room for adverts.
When the series ended, the story continued with the feature film Spooks: The Greater Good (2015).
Harry Pearce
Peter Firth Malcolm Wynn-Jones
Hugh Simon Ruth Evershed
Nicola Walker Adam Carter
Rupert Penry-Jones Jo Portman
Miranda Raison Ros Myers
Hermione Norris Colin Wells
Rory MacGregor Danny Hunter
David Oyelowo Lucas North
Richard Armitage Zafar Younis
Raza Jaffrey Zoe Reynolds
Keeley Hawes Sam Buxton
Shauna Macdonald Tom Quinn
Matthew Macfadyen Tariq Masood
Shazad Latif Connie James
Gemma Jones Juliet Shaw
Anna Chancellor Home Secretary Nicholas Blake
Robert Glenister Wesley Carter
James Dicker Dimitri Levendis
Max Brown Home Secretary William Towers
Simon Russell Beale Ben Kaplan
Alex Lanipekun Fiona Carter
Olga Sosnovska Bob Hogan
Matthew Marsh
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The series had a high body count – a trainee agent had his face plunged into a deep-fat fryer and was then shot in the back of the head. When characters left the show, they usually did so in a body bag.
In 2009, BBC Three launched a spin-off series. Spooks: Code 9 was set in a near future where a small group of young adults were recruited to help protect a country paralysed after a nuclear attack.
