Spooks (series 7)
Encyclopedia
The seventh series of the BBC
espionage television series Spooks
(known as MI-5 in the United States) began broadcasting on 27 October 2008 on BBC One
before ending on 8 December 2008 on the same channel, and consists of eight episodes, two less than previous series. It follows the actions of Section D, a counter-terrorism
division in MI5
. The primary storyline involves Sugarhorse, a top secret operation set up by MI5 during the final years of the Cold War
, and a mole
working for the FSB who intends to leak the operation to the Russians. Peter Firth
, Rupert Penry-Jones
, Hermione Norris
, Richard Armitage
, Miranda Raison
, Gemma Jones
, Hugh Simon
and Alex Lanipekun
are credited as the main cast.
Penry-Jones announced his intention to leave the series in December 2007, while it was later announced Armitage would join. Norris and Raison were both asked to return after their characters were left open for return after the end of the last series. In developing the series, the producers wanted to repeat the serialised style from series six
, and settled on using the resurgence of Russia as the primary storyline, as they felt that at the time, the resurgence is in subtle ways threatening the security of the west. The producers also participated in several meetings with the writers to discuss the purpose of Sugarhorse. Filming started in London on March 2008, and later finished on August in the same year, in Moscow, the first time in series history where Spooks was filmed outside the United Kingdom.
The seventh series received healthy ratings, with both BBC One and BBC Three ratings together achieving 6.13 million viewers per episode. It series also attracted critical acclaim, with some reviewers considering it to be the best series of Spooks. Both factors allowed the BBC to commission an eighth series
of the programme for 2009. The seventh series was released on DVD on 12 October 2009 in the United Kingdom, 30 March 2009 in Australia, and 26 January 2010 in the United States.
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|-
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | №
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | #
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | Title
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | Directed by
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | Written by
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | Original air date
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | UK viewers
(million)
|-
|}
Later in March 2008, the BBC
announced that Richard Armitage would join the series as Lucas North. The character was designed by the producers to become a "new heroic figure," and to become much more distant than Adam. Armitage was chosen early in the casting process as the producers believed he could carry the mystery of the character. Armitage was approached by the producers after he finished work on the second series of Robin Hood, for which he portrayed the regular part of Sir Guy of Gisbourne. He accepted the role but was initially hesitant to join because of the "tall order" for replacing Penry-Jones. Armitage lost a stone in weight in preparation to keep with the description that Lucas is malnourished in the first episode, but still kept physically fit.
Elsewhere, Hermione Norris returns as Ros Myers. The character was initially written off after the eighth episode of the sixth series due to the actress's pregnancy, however when the seventh series entered pre-production, Norris was asked to return and she accepted. Miranda Raison also returns as Jo Portman; the cliffhanger of the sixth series finale, where Jo was apparently killed, was to leave the audience wonder whether she survived. Raison stated that she realised the producers wanted her to return, and she wanted to return. Alex Lanipekun returns as Ben Kaplan, and was upgraded to a series regular from the last series. Lanipekun believed that the seventh series was "kind of for Ben," adding that there was an episode that would see his coming of age by dealing with his first undercover operation and his burdens, namely getting close to someone who is involved with the group he was sent to stop. Peter Firth, Gemma Jones and Hugh Simon returns as superior Harry Pearce, Connie James and Malcolm-Wynn Jones, respectively.
, which the producers felt, in subtle ways, would threaten the security of the west. Sometime through the writing process, the producers set up a story-arc, Sugarhorse, to be a threat throughout the series and have it resolved by the finale. The writers enjoyed making the Sugarhorse storyline because it was one of the instances that "really brings Harry to the edge" and causing him to doubt everything he has done or achieved. The writing team took several meetings together to discuss what it is and how it should work into the storyline. Christian Spurrier noted it was "kind of a headache" to figure out how to "weave it in" to the series and work out what parts would be used in which episodes. The producers wanted to use a scene relating to Sugarhorse as the finale scene of every episode it was featured in, as the producers believed it would provide a "right hook" to the audience. Adding the new storyline would allow the series to return to the world of spying, truth, and who the characters should trust.
Throughout the writing process, several cast members would give suggestion notes to the writers on how to improve some scenes. The writers were frequently annoyed with Armitage, who gave out more notes than any other cast members, however the writers also liked some of his ideas and included them into the scripts. The producers believed that the seventh series was among the more brutal than the others, citing the violent death of Ben.
.jpg)
Filming started on March 2008, and later finished on August in the same year. Before principal photography commenced, director Colm McCarthy participated in helicopter shots over London. In each block of episodes, the cast and crew would often film all scenes held in certain locations at once, for instance all scenes set on the Grid, although taking place in different parts of each episodes, would all be filmed together before moving on to another set. However, the cast had trouble following the storylines with this method. A different Director of Photography was hired in each episode. Because of this, the filming style inside the Grid set changed in every episode. To film public shots, a small filming crew were used as to not attract too much attention from passers by. However, by using the small crew, they and the actors generally film the scenes unnoticed by the public, which the producers felt gave the characters such gravitas.
Filming finished on August 2008 in Moscow, Russia; it was the first time in series history where filming took place outside the United Kingdom; producer Katie Swinden stated that Spooks is usually "London-orientated," including when it comes to filming scenes set in other countries, and it usually does not take place outside the confines of the M25
, an orbital motorway
which encircles the UK's capital. However, the producers were able to afford to shoot in another country. A small crew were used to save costs. Armitage and Norris were the only two of the main actors who participated in the shoot. However, the main problem with filming in Moscow was of the 30 plus degree heat, and the actors had to wear winter coats because the episodes were set during the colder months.
scene to ensure the authenticity of the sequence. The actor agreed after he was convinced by conultants from the FSB and CIA. Kudos film and television
, the production company behind Spooks, had to follow several health and sefety provisions from an advisor to ensure the sequence strictly adheres to the advice. The advisor and a medic were present during filming. Armitage was only waterboarded for a short time, and was filmed in slow motion
to make it appear as if he was on for longer. The ambient temperature of the room was also raised to make Armitage as comfortable as possible. Following the sequence, Armitage stated "I only lasted five to ten seconds, and the sound of my voice crying out to stop isn't me acting."
, with the exception of the second episode, which aired on a Tuesday, the day after the first episode. However, the second through to the seventh episodes were pre-empted to BBC Three
sometime after the BBC One broadcasts of the previous episode. The first episode "New Allegiances" was seen by 5.5 million and was given a strong audience share of 23.4 per cent. Although ratings were high, the premiere was down from the 6.6 million seen by the premiere of the previous sixth series. Some of the later episode faced heavy competition from I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! on ITV1
, however despite this, ratings for Spooks remained steady. The finale "Nuclear Strike" gave the seventh series its strongest ratings, with six million viewers. Compiling both BBC One and BBC Three viewings, viewing figures for the seventh series averaged 6.13 million per episode. The series also became the ninth most watched series from BBC iPlayer
, an Internet television
service, of 2008.
feared that the death of Adam "would have cast a long shadow," but barely noticed his adsence given the pace of the episodes. Holmwood also believed that Lucas' introduction "more than made amends" for replacing Adam, and also felt the return of Ros Myers and her promotion was "a genius move." Mark Wright of The Stage
thought that it was "stunning" with the last three episodes in particular "hitting new heights of tension and storytelling for the series," adding it is "as good as, if not the better, than the first couple of seasons." Wright also believed the series performed well with a reduced series length of eight as opposed to the ten episodes from the last few series, which he said allowed for "tighter, more focussed storytelling." He also felt the cast changes "always felt naturally organic," and praised Adam's exit, Lucas' introduction, and the "fantastic, strong female role model" of Hermione Norris' portrayal. Wright ended by saying "Spooks has been my favourite show of the last few months and indeed of 2008."
Mof Gimmers of TV Scoop named Spooks series seven as the best television show of 2008 out of 50 programmes. Gimmers felt the seventh series performed better than the previous
, as it "lost its way slightly" with the concentration of Islamic extremists. The seventh series however, was praised for bringing back the more traditional enemy, the Russians. With the introduction of Lucas North, Gimmers stated "the possibilities for double-blinding the audience were legion and every single one was exploited to the max." Gimmers also cited the more "pacy" plots due to a shorter series as another factor of the series's success, and also said "the only problem with having a series as good as this in the bag is how they will match it next year?" David Blackwell of Enterline Media said that the series' storylines "have a grain of truth reflecting today's climate" and also "more deeply rooted in gritty realism and preying on the real dangers that terrorists and other countries pose to the UK." Blackwell also posed the storylines also "keeps the characters human and show what they go through" and reacted positevely towards Lucas' introduction, stating "I like Lucas North better than Adam Carter or Tom Quinn. His dark and conflicted persona adds to the story and makes him a more interesting character than Adam or Tom ever were." Blackwell summed up the series as "as great as the first six seasons. The show maintains a high standard of quality."
Following the end of the eighth series
, Last Broadcast held a poll for the top five most shocking death scenes in Spooks. Two of them were deaths from the seventh series. Adam Carter's death was voted the fourth most shocking, while Ben Kaplan's death was voted third. Connie's death however, was not listed. The featuring of an actual waterboarding scene drew criticism from Guardian columnist Zoe Williams
, who wrote "it's really unpleasant, [Armitage] concurred. 'I only lasted five to 10 seconds, and the sound of my voice crying out to stop isn't me acting.' Pal, that's nice that you're not showing off but this is all wrong and despicable: it's like locking yourself and 10 friends into a loo on a commuter train, to see what it would be like on the train to Auschwitz. If you can make it stop whenever you like, you're learning nothing and kicking people in the face while you're at it."
(BAFTA) for "Best Drama Series" in 2009, but lost to Wallander. Because of the strong ratings and positive feedback from fans and critics, the BBC announced they would recommission Spooks for an eighth series
for 2009 in 4 December 2008, just days before the finale was set to air.
for episodes five and eight. The box set also contains the original trailer for the series, while the Region 1 release also contains trailers for other British television programmes, including Doctor Who
, Torchwood
and Primeval
.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
espionage television series Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
(known as MI-5 in the United States) began broadcasting on 27 October 2008 on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
before ending on 8 December 2008 on the same channel, and consists of eight episodes, two less than previous series. It follows the actions of Section D, a counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
division in MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
. The primary storyline involves Sugarhorse, a top secret operation set up by MI5 during the final years of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and a mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
working for the FSB who intends to leak the operation to the Russians. Peter Firth
Peter Firth
Peter Firth is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC show Spooks, of which he is the only actor to have starred in every episode of the show's 10 series lifespan...
, Rupert Penry-Jones
Rupert Penry-Jones
Rupert William Penry-Jones is an English actor, best known for his role as Adam Carter in the British television series Spooks, also broadcast under the title MI-5.-Family life:Penry-Jones was born in London on September 22, 1970...
, Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris is an English actress.Norris attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet...
, Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage (actor)
Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
, Miranda Raison
Miranda Raison
-Early life:Born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, her father Nick Raison is a jazz pianist and artist, while her mother Caroline read the news for Anglia Television. She has two brothers and two sisters: Ed , Rosie, Sam and May. Her parents divorced when she was six years old, and her father remarried...
, Gemma Jones
Gemma Jones
Gemma Jones is an English character actress on both stage and screen.-Early life:Jones was born in London, England, the daughter of Irene and Griffith Jones, an actor. Her brother, Nicholas Jones, is also an actor...
, Hugh Simon
Hugh Simon
Hugh Simon is a British actor, best known for his portrayal of the character Malcolm Wynn-Jones in the television series Spooks. His other TV credits include Shackleton, Attachments, Cold Feet, North Square, Big Bad World, and "Unusual Suspects" .He has also appeared onstage, as in the 2005 London...
and Alex Lanipekun
Alex Lanipekun
Alex Lanipekun is a British Actor of Nigerian and Italian/English origin. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but left early to join the cast of the BBC drama Spooks as journalist come spy Ben Kaplan. In 2007 he won the prestigious Carleton Hobbs Award, joining the BBC Radio Drama Rep...
are credited as the main cast.
Penry-Jones announced his intention to leave the series in December 2007, while it was later announced Armitage would join. Norris and Raison were both asked to return after their characters were left open for return after the end of the last series. In developing the series, the producers wanted to repeat the serialised style from series six
Spooks (series 6)
The sixth series of the BBC espionage television series Spooks began broadcasting on 16 October 2007 before ending on 18 December 2007. The series, consisting of ten episodes, is the first where there is a story line throughout the episodes...
, and settled on using the resurgence of Russia as the primary storyline, as they felt that at the time, the resurgence is in subtle ways threatening the security of the west. The producers also participated in several meetings with the writers to discuss the purpose of Sugarhorse. Filming started in London on March 2008, and later finished on August in the same year, in Moscow, the first time in series history where Spooks was filmed outside the United Kingdom.
The seventh series received healthy ratings, with both BBC One and BBC Three ratings together achieving 6.13 million viewers per episode. It series also attracted critical acclaim, with some reviewers considering it to be the best series of Spooks. Both factors allowed the BBC to commission an eighth series
Spooks (series 8)
The eighth series of the BBC espionage television series Spooks began broadcasting on 4 November 2009 before ending on 23 December 2009...
of the programme for 2009. The seventh series was released on DVD on 12 October 2009 in the United Kingdom, 30 March 2009 in Australia, and 26 January 2010 in the United States.
Episodes
In this table, the number in the first column refers to the episode's number within the entire series, whereas the number in the second column indicates the episode's number within the seventh series. "UK viewers in millions" refers to how many Britons watched the episode on BBC One.|-
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | №
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | #
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | Title
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | Directed by
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | Written by
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | Original air date
! style="background-color: #FAF0BE;" | UK viewers
(million)
|-
|}
Cast
The series consists of eight main cast members. Rupert Penry-Jones returns as Adam Carter for the first episode. Penry-Jones announced his intention to leave the series after appearing on the show for four years in December 2007, because he felt his character ran its course and "getting to the point where I needed to move on," adding he would like to explore other venues in his career. In order to keep the series fresh, the producers still wanted Adam's exit to be a shock to the audience. The actor found that his last days on Spooks was generally upsetting and "welled up" on his final day.Later in March 2008, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
announced that Richard Armitage would join the series as Lucas North. The character was designed by the producers to become a "new heroic figure," and to become much more distant than Adam. Armitage was chosen early in the casting process as the producers believed he could carry the mystery of the character. Armitage was approached by the producers after he finished work on the second series of Robin Hood, for which he portrayed the regular part of Sir Guy of Gisbourne. He accepted the role but was initially hesitant to join because of the "tall order" for replacing Penry-Jones. Armitage lost a stone in weight in preparation to keep with the description that Lucas is malnourished in the first episode, but still kept physically fit.
Elsewhere, Hermione Norris returns as Ros Myers. The character was initially written off after the eighth episode of the sixth series due to the actress's pregnancy, however when the seventh series entered pre-production, Norris was asked to return and she accepted. Miranda Raison also returns as Jo Portman; the cliffhanger of the sixth series finale, where Jo was apparently killed, was to leave the audience wonder whether she survived. Raison stated that she realised the producers wanted her to return, and she wanted to return. Alex Lanipekun returns as Ben Kaplan, and was upgraded to a series regular from the last series. Lanipekun believed that the seventh series was "kind of for Ben," adding that there was an episode that would see his coming of age by dealing with his first undercover operation and his burdens, namely getting close to someone who is involved with the group he was sent to stop. Peter Firth, Gemma Jones and Hugh Simon returns as superior Harry Pearce, Connie James and Malcolm-Wynn Jones, respectively.
Writing
The writers and producers got together to discuss what direction they would take for the seventh series. They wanted to repeat the same style for series six, which was to add a serial element to be carried throughout the duration of the series. They got together to think about what they would believe to be a big political story that would effect politics in the United Kingdom in within twelve to eighteen months after their initial meetings early in 2008. They settled on using Russia, which was facing a resurgence in power after the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, which the producers felt, in subtle ways, would threaten the security of the west. Sometime through the writing process, the producers set up a story-arc, Sugarhorse, to be a threat throughout the series and have it resolved by the finale. The writers enjoyed making the Sugarhorse storyline because it was one of the instances that "really brings Harry to the edge" and causing him to doubt everything he has done or achieved. The writing team took several meetings together to discuss what it is and how it should work into the storyline. Christian Spurrier noted it was "kind of a headache" to figure out how to "weave it in" to the series and work out what parts would be used in which episodes. The producers wanted to use a scene relating to Sugarhorse as the finale scene of every episode it was featured in, as the producers believed it would provide a "right hook" to the audience. Adding the new storyline would allow the series to return to the world of spying, truth, and who the characters should trust.
Throughout the writing process, several cast members would give suggestion notes to the writers on how to improve some scenes. The writers were frequently annoyed with Armitage, who gave out more notes than any other cast members, however the writers also liked some of his ideas and included them into the scripts. The producers believed that the seventh series was among the more brutal than the others, citing the violent death of Ben.
Filming
Filming finished on August 2008 in Moscow, Russia; it was the first time in series history where filming took place outside the United Kingdom; producer Katie Swinden stated that Spooks is usually "London-orientated," including when it comes to filming scenes set in other countries, and it usually does not take place outside the confines of the M25
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
, an orbital motorway
Ring road
A ring road, orbital motorway, beltway, circumferential highway, or loop highway is a road that encircles a town or city...
which encircles the UK's capital. However, the producers were able to afford to shoot in another country. A small crew were used to save costs. Armitage and Norris were the only two of the main actors who participated in the shoot. However, the main problem with filming in Moscow was of the 30 plus degree heat, and the actors had to wear winter coats because the episodes were set during the colder months.
Stunts
The producers allow the cast to perform many of their own stunts. In filming fight sequences, they were carefully choreographed beforehand so the actors could participate themselves. The guns featured on the series are real. In scenes where guns are included, an armourer is on hand throughout the entirety of the sequence to see if the actors are handling them properly and gives out the guns to the actors at the last possible second before filming. After the sequence is shot, the guns have to be returned and locked in a case to prevent anybody from playing with them, even if the guns are not loaded. Among other stunt work, Armitage was asked to be subjected to an actual waterboardingWaterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
scene to ensure the authenticity of the sequence. The actor agreed after he was convinced by conultants from the FSB and CIA. Kudos film and television
Kudos (production company)
Kudos Film and Television is a British independent film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and its productions include Spooks , Hustle, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard and M.I. High...
, the production company behind Spooks, had to follow several health and sefety provisions from an advisor to ensure the sequence strictly adheres to the advice. The advisor and a medic were present during filming. Armitage was only waterboarded for a short time, and was filmed in slow motion
Slow motion
Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....
to make it appear as if he was on for longer. The ambient temperature of the room was also raised to make Armitage as comfortable as possible. Following the sequence, Armitage stated "I only lasted five to ten seconds, and the sound of my voice crying out to stop isn't me acting."
Broadcast and ratings
The series was broadcast every Monday from 27 October to 8 December 2008 on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, with the exception of the second episode, which aired on a Tuesday, the day after the first episode. However, the second through to the seventh episodes were pre-empted to BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
sometime after the BBC One broadcasts of the previous episode. The first episode "New Allegiances" was seen by 5.5 million and was given a strong audience share of 23.4 per cent. Although ratings were high, the premiere was down from the 6.6 million seen by the premiere of the previous sixth series. Some of the later episode faced heavy competition from I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
, however despite this, ratings for Spooks remained steady. The finale "Nuclear Strike" gave the seventh series its strongest ratings, with six million viewers. Compiling both BBC One and BBC Three viewings, viewing figures for the seventh series averaged 6.13 million per episode. The series also became the ninth most watched series from BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
, an Internet television
Internet television
Internet television is the digital distribution of television content via the Internet...
service, of 2008.
Critical reception
The seventh series attracted critical acclaim, with some reviewers considering it to be the best series of Spooks. Leigh Holmwood of The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
feared that the death of Adam "would have cast a long shadow," but barely noticed his adsence given the pace of the episodes. Holmwood also believed that Lucas' introduction "more than made amends" for replacing Adam, and also felt the return of Ros Myers and her promotion was "a genius move." Mark Wright of The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
thought that it was "stunning" with the last three episodes in particular "hitting new heights of tension and storytelling for the series," adding it is "as good as, if not the better, than the first couple of seasons." Wright also believed the series performed well with a reduced series length of eight as opposed to the ten episodes from the last few series, which he said allowed for "tighter, more focussed storytelling." He also felt the cast changes "always felt naturally organic," and praised Adam's exit, Lucas' introduction, and the "fantastic, strong female role model" of Hermione Norris' portrayal. Wright ended by saying "Spooks has been my favourite show of the last few months and indeed of 2008."
Mof Gimmers of TV Scoop named Spooks series seven as the best television show of 2008 out of 50 programmes. Gimmers felt the seventh series performed better than the previous
Spooks (series 6)
The sixth series of the BBC espionage television series Spooks began broadcasting on 16 October 2007 before ending on 18 December 2007. The series, consisting of ten episodes, is the first where there is a story line throughout the episodes...
, as it "lost its way slightly" with the concentration of Islamic extremists. The seventh series however, was praised for bringing back the more traditional enemy, the Russians. With the introduction of Lucas North, Gimmers stated "the possibilities for double-blinding the audience were legion and every single one was exploited to the max." Gimmers also cited the more "pacy" plots due to a shorter series as another factor of the series's success, and also said "the only problem with having a series as good as this in the bag is how they will match it next year?" David Blackwell of Enterline Media said that the series' storylines "have a grain of truth reflecting today's climate" and also "more deeply rooted in gritty realism and preying on the real dangers that terrorists and other countries pose to the UK." Blackwell also posed the storylines also "keeps the characters human and show what they go through" and reacted positevely towards Lucas' introduction, stating "I like Lucas North better than Adam Carter or Tom Quinn. His dark and conflicted persona adds to the story and makes him a more interesting character than Adam or Tom ever were." Blackwell summed up the series as "as great as the first six seasons. The show maintains a high standard of quality."
Following the end of the eighth series
Spooks (series 8)
The eighth series of the BBC espionage television series Spooks began broadcasting on 4 November 2009 before ending on 23 December 2009...
, Last Broadcast held a poll for the top five most shocking death scenes in Spooks. Two of them were deaths from the seventh series. Adam Carter's death was voted the fourth most shocking, while Ben Kaplan's death was voted third. Connie's death however, was not listed. The featuring of an actual waterboarding scene drew criticism from Guardian columnist Zoe Williams
Zoe Williams
Zoe Williams is a British columnist and journalist.-Early life:She attended the independent Godolphin and Latymer School girls school and read Modern History at Lincoln College, Oxford.. Her parents separated in 1976 and formally divorced 20 years later.-Writing:Williams writes forThe Guardian and...
, who wrote "it's really unpleasant, [Armitage] concurred. 'I only lasted five to 10 seconds, and the sound of my voice crying out to stop isn't me acting.' Pal, that's nice that you're not showing off but this is all wrong and despicable: it's like locking yourself and 10 friends into a loo on a commuter train, to see what it would be like on the train to Auschwitz. If you can make it stop whenever you like, you're learning nothing and kicking people in the face while you're at it."
Award nomination and renewal
The seventh series was nominated for a British Academy Television AwardBritish Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
(BAFTA) for "Best Drama Series" in 2009, but lost to Wallander. Because of the strong ratings and positive feedback from fans and critics, the BBC announced they would recommission Spooks for an eighth series
Spooks (series 8)
The eighth series of the BBC espionage television series Spooks began broadcasting on 4 November 2009 before ending on 23 December 2009...
for 2009 in 4 December 2008, just days before the finale was set to air.
Home video release
The series has been released on DVD in the United Kingdom (Region 2) on 12 October 2009. It was also released in the United States (Region 1) on 26 January 2010, and in Australia (Region 4) on 30 March 2009. The set consists of four discs and contain all eight episodes, as well as a few special features, including a Behind the Scenes documentary, which contain cast and crew interviews covering the characters and storylines of the series, "Spooks in Russia", a featurette behind the scenes of filming in Russia, "Action Sequence", which covers filming a chase sequence in episode six, and audio commentariesAudio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
for episodes five and eight. The box set also contains the original trailer for the series, while the Region 1 release also contains trailers for other British television programmes, including Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
and Primeval
Primeval
Primeval or primæval may refer to:* Primeval, a British science fiction television series.* Primeval , a 2007 film* Primeval , a score of music from the BBC TV series Doctor Who...
.