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{{work|wppage=Spooks (TV series)}}
'''''Spooks''''' is a series by [[The BBC]] revolving around the work of Section D of MI-5, the UK's Security Service. The show was renamed ''MI-5'' in the USA due to racial connotations and possible confusion over the term "Spooks". The show is notable for its use of [[Split Screen]] as well as [[Not Quite Dead]]. It also does not have any credits at the beginning or end, to maintain a
It provoked some controversy over an episode where a woman was killed by having her head shoved into a deep fat fryer (the victim, played by Lisa Faulkner, was being set up as a major character, and this was in the show's second episode) and also for one featuring suicide bombers.
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The show ended in 2011 after ten seasons. In a show where [[Anyone Can Die]] and the one character who was considered to ''maybe'' have a plot shield has spent the last six weeks being put through the wringer, this made for a very tense finale.
[[The Movie|The series continued with a film]], ''Spooks: The Greater Good'', which was released on 8 May 2015.
For more information, go [http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/spooks/ here] (Non-UK spoilers) and [http://www.aetv.com/tv/shows/mi5/mi5_homepage.html here].▼
▲For more information, go [http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/spooks/ here] (Non-UK spoilers) and [https://web.archive.org/web/20081205094951/http://www.aetv.com/tv/shows/mi5/mi5_homepage.html here].
A [[Spin-Off]], ''[[Spooks
▲A [[Spin-Off]], ''[[Spooks Code 9 (TV)|Spooks Code 9]]'', aired in 2008. Poor critical reception and ratings means it's not likely to be coming back.
{{tropelist}}
* [[And the Adventure Continues...]]: The show ends on a particularly bittersweet version of this.▼
* [[Anyone Can Die]], [[Killed Off for Real]]:
▲* [[And the Adventure Continues]]: The show ends on a particularly bittersweet version of this.
** A quick rundown of the dead: {{spoiler|Helen, Danny, Fiona, Colin, Zafar, Ben, Connie, Adam, Jo, Ros, Lucas, Tariq and Ruth
▲* [[Anyone Can Die]], [[Killed Off for Real]]: all in reference to Lisa Faulkner's frying as well as dozens of other examples. Only one of the original characters remains in the show, although some ex-characters, like Tom, are still alive and kicking (and are brought back sometimes, like Ruth and {{spoiler|Malcolm}}).
** It's
▲** A quick rundown of the dead: {{spoiler|Helen, Danny, Fiona, Colin, Zafar, Ben, Connie, Adam, Jo, Ros, Lucas, Tariq and Ruth.}} Most of their names (plus a few extras) are seen in the final episode on [[MI 5]]'s memorial wall.
*** Of course, the previous season cliffhangers which put Harry in life-threatening danger had other characters in even more danger - as in, one character appeared to [[Driven to Suicide|drown himself in the ocean]], and another was left bleeding out on the street
▲** It's theorised that the one character who has been in it since the beginning (Harry) is still in it because the show would lose a lot of viewers if it did; the series seven finale, when he {{spoiler|gets kidnapped by}} [[Fan Nickname|Russian Alan Davies]], was... controversial (even though he was in danger in several season cliffhangers before). In the end, he {{spoiler|survives the finale, albeit even more broken than ever before, and continues working at Thames House.}}
* [[Back for
▲*** Of course, the previous season cliffhangers which put Harry in life-threatening danger had other characters in even more danger - as in, one character appeared to [[Driven to Suicide|drown himself in the ocean]], and another was left bleeding out on the street. {{spoiler|(both survived)}} That and the fact that he wasn't as central to the show then as he was by series seven...
▲* [[Back for The Finale]]: Tom Quinn makes a cameo appearance in the final episode of Series 10, hired by Harry as an outside contractor.
* [[Badass]]: Quite a few of the team, but Ros takes the cake.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: It's fair that almost every episode will/has end like this or at least have a touch of it as no matter what victory is achieved by the team there some price to pay.
* [[Blonde Republican Sex Kitten]]: Christine Dale.
* [[Bottle Episode]]:
* [[Break the Cutie]]: Oh, Jo. Poor, ''poor'' Jo.
* [[Broken Ace]]: Tom Quinn. As described by Harry, "one of the best and the brightest." Relied upon by everyone. The team leader. Until, of course
** Adam Carter, his replacement, went almost as spectacularly off the deep end after
** And finally, {{spoiler|Harry himself in the finale
* [[Bulletproof Human Shield]]: Subverted/shown correctly when Jo Portman manages to restrain a terrorist who is trying to blow himself and everyone else up. The only way to avert the explosion is for Ros to shoot the man, however (as both Jo and Ros
* [[Call Back]]: The following conversation, from the
{{quote|
'''Harry''': Took early retirement.
* [[Clumsy Copyright Censorship]]: One episode was temporarily pulled because visible Apple logos on the back of the computers had to be digitally airbrushed out, advertising not being allowed on [[The BBC]].
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]:
** Ros also kills a Russian dude ''with a fork'' and threatens another one with a pen to the eyeball. In the same episode. [[Lady of War|Without significantly messing up her hair.]]
* [[Compromising Memoirs]]: The Rose Bed Memoirs.
* [[Crapsack World]]
* [[Cruel and Unusual Death]]: Several.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]:
▲* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]: Ros, to an extent in series 8.
▲* [[Did Not Do the Research]] (a lot, including one episode using the term "zero day attack" for {{spoiler|turning a denial of service attack back on a Russian submarine}})
** A common example is to use terminology that was accurate at one point but is now outdated, perhaps due to issues with classified information. For example, the Alternative Seat of Government base under the Cotswolds is known as "TURNSTILE" in the series, that code name being one used some time in the past (and in any case the base has been decommissioned since 2004).
*** To be fair, the episode in which "TURNSTILE" is referenced (''I Spy Apocalypse'') aired in 2003, when the base was still active.
* [[Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?]] / [[Mugging the Monster]]: far too many politicians [[Realpolitik|try to use]] [[Badass Israeli|Mossad]] [[Too Dumb to Live|for their own ends]], usually via manipulation and
* [[Dirty Coward]]: How Adam describes a rival agent
* [[Driven to Suicide]]:
**
* [[Dropped a Bridge
** Also, to be fair, his goal was preventing civilian casualties; only after the car was stationary in middle of an empty square could he look to saving his own life. He didn't know exactly how long he had left, of if the trigger would be delayed for some reason. Had he jumped out of the side while it was moving, the car might have gone careering into the side of a building and caused civilian casualties.
* [[Dying Moment of Awesome]]:
**
* [[Eagle Land]]:
* [[Evil Plan]]: Frequently, but Angela Wells's
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: {{spoiler|Juliet Shaw in Series 6, in a [[Shocking Swerve]]}}.
* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Adam Carter and Lucas North.▼
▲* [[Evil Plan]]: Frequently, but Angela Wells's masterplan in "Diana" sort of sticks in the memory: {{spoiler|holding the entire Grid hostage overnight with a fake bomb, solely for the purpose of getting access to Buckingham Palace security information, so that a lockdown would be ordered and the Royal Family would be rushed to a secure location which, after getting herself employed there as an electrician ''seven months earlier'', she'd already rigged with plastic explosive INSIDE THE ELECTRICAL WIRING. And then there's a sniper rifle.}}
* [[
* [[False-Flag Operation]]: Several. {{spoiler|1=A group of Mossad agents take over an embassy while pretending to be Al Qaeda, and Harry's kidnappers in the first episode of
▲** {{spoiler|Lucas in series 9}}
▲* [[False-Flag Operation]]: Several. {{spoiler|1=A group of Mossad agents take over an embassy while pretending to be Al Qaeda, and Harry's kidnappers in the first episode of season 8 pretend to be Islamic terorists to throw MI5 off the scent.}}
** In fact, the majority of the episodes of the fifth series involved these.
* [[Fictional Political Party]]: The British Way Party, a [[Fictional Counterpart]] to the
* [[Groin Attack]]: Ros takes the phrase "put the squeeze on him" VERY literally.
* [[The Hero Dies]]: At least two season finales. One of them twists it by having the character survive the end-of-season cliffhanger, carry on a few episodes into the new season, and ''then'' have nervous breakdown and leave the series.▼
* [[High Heel Face Turn]]: Guess which one of the people in [http://littlespooksthings.tumblr.com/post/8652276316/yalta-is-delicious this] ([[Did Not Do the Research|incorrectly labeled]]) shot ends up joining the good guys. Go on, guess.▼
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]:
* [[Heroic BSOD]]:
* [[Hide Your Pregnancy]]: Done with three different actresses in three consecutive seasons:
** Olga Sosnovska (Fiona) in
** Nicola Walker (Ruth) in
** Hermione Norris (Ros) in
** In each case, the actress' pregnancy [[Real Life Writes the Plot|forced her into maternity leave]] before the end of the respective season - although only one ultimately chose to PERMANENTLY exit the show.
▲* [[High Heel Face Turn]]: Guess which one of the people in [http://littlespooksthings.tumblr.com/post/8652276316/yalta-is-delicious this] ([[Did Not Do the Research|incorrectly labeled]]) shot ends up joining the good guys. Go on, guess.
* [[Idiot Ball]]:
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Perhaps not literally, but the sniper in Series 9 Episode 5 must come pretty close.
* [[Interservice Rivalry]]: With [[MI 6]], who the more serious-minded [[MI 5]] officers view as dilettante [[James Bond]] wannabes.
* [[Kill the Cutie]]:
** What makes it even more awful is that
* [[Lady Drunk]]: Connie has elements of the type. Turns poignantly hilarious in her last episode when she demands a bottle of gin
* [[Lady of War]]: Ros. This [[Your Mileage May Vary|can]] manifest in [[Hidden Depths]] as when you're first introduced to her, she looks and acts [[Sophisticated As Hell|too refined and upper class]] to have any of the [[Badass]] fighting skills that the rest of [[MI 5]] are trained in. A couple of [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|beaten-up Mossad agents later]] and you're immediately dissuaded from that idea.
* [[Left Hanging]]: Series 7 ended with
* [[Location Doubling]]:
* [[Locked in
* [[The Lost Lenore]]:
* [[Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter|Mad Dictator's Beautiful Daughter]]: Ros's introduction more or less fits the trope, although her [[Heel Face Turn]] has less to do with falling for the hero (it takes her several episodes even to ''like'' any of her new colleagues) and more to do with realizing that her father and his cronies are selfish, murderous, and being bankrolled by the Russian mob, and she's far more badass in her own right than the category would tend to suggest.
* [[Make the Bear Angry Again]]:
* [[The Mole]] {{spoiler|Various [[Acceptable Targets|Americans and MI6 agents]] throughout the series, plus Connie in
* [[Moment Killer]]
* [[Moral Dissonance]]: Lampshaded by Danny when he has to assassinate a scientist planning to sell weaponized plague to terrorists, who references a line spoken by Tom in the very first episode that stated killing in the name of life is still wrong.
* [[More Expendable Than You]]: An interesting variant is
▲* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Adam Carter and Lucas North.
* [[Murder.Com]]: In
* [[Never Mess
* [[Our Hero Is Dead]]:
* [[Overt Rendezvous]]: In
* [[Power Walk]]
* [[Psycho Psychologist]]: Miranda from
▲* [[Overt Rendezvous]]: In seasons one and two, the characters frequently have meetings on the benches across from the Houses of Parliament.
* [[Put
▲* [[Psycho Psychologist]]: Miranda from season 2 interviews the entire staff and pits them against each other with the express purpose of finding the weakest link. Portrayed realistically in that she doesn't see anything wrong with this.
** The only one this really applies to is {{spoiler|Sam}}, as at the end of
▲* [[Put On a Bus]]: {{spoiler|Tessa, Tom, Zoe, Sam, Ruth (though she returned in the first episode of season 8) and Malcolm.}}
** At the start of
▲** The only one this really applies to is {{spoiler|Sam}}, as at the end of Season 3 it's stated that she's upset due to {{spoiler|Danny's death}} and then come Season 4 she's just never mentioned again. For the others, their reason for leaving the show is explicitly stated.
▲** At the start of Season 10, Harry observes that {{spoiler|Beth}} has been fired in his absence.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Harry and the Home Secretary (most of the time).
* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: {{spoiler|Connie, who redeems herself with a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to stop London being destroyed
** However, this is then [[Averted]] at the end of
* [[Refuge in Audacity]]:
* [[Revolving Door Casting]]
* [[Running Gag]]: "KGB
* [[Sacrificial Lamb]]: Lisa.
** And Helen, of course.
* [[Sacrificial Lion]]:
* [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]]: Lucas North, who spent many years being tortured in Russia.
** Even though he'd been captured and tortured gruesomely by a number of rival intelligence agencies, Adam Carter was able to remain
* [[Shoe Phone]]. Subverted in "Nest of Angels". An Algerian agent listens politely when he's shown a number of disguised communication/bugging devices for his mission to infiltrate a radical Islamic group. The next scene shows him dumping this highly compromising equipment into a canal.
* [[Shout-Out]]:
* [[Spiritual Successor]]:
* [[Split Screen]]
* [[Spy Satellites]]
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Many. Generally, after a character leaves they get one of these.
* [[There Are No Girls
* [[Training Accident]]
▲* [[That Man Is Dead]]: {{spoiler|Lucas, after his true identity is revealed.}}
▲* [[There Are No Girls On the Internet]]: {{spoiler|Subverted in episode 1 of series 9, in which an undercover al-Qaeda [[The Cracker|master hacker]] is traced to west London and assumed to be the father of a Muslim household. It's actually his 17-year-old daughter.}}
* [[The Troubles]]: Harry was active in Northern Ireland during these, and rogue IRA agents appear frequently in the early seasons.
* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]:
▲* [[The Hero Dies]]: At least two season finales. One of them twists it by having the character survive the end-of-season cliffhanger, carry on a few episodes into the new season, and ''then'' have nervous breakdown and leave the series.
▲* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]: {{spoiler|Ruth and Harry. Also, done in a very cute way with Ros and Adam Lawrence (the new Home Secretary at the end of Series 8).}}
▲* {{spoiler|[[Villain Protagonist]]}}: Lucas.
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist
▲* [[The War On Terror]] (first British series to feature it)
▲* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]]: In addition to several Villians of the Week from the earlier series (most memorably, Collingwood and his cohorts from "Gas and Oil"), at least two season arcs from the later years (six and eight) are built around massive conspiracies consisting of such individuals.
* [[Western Terrorists]]: This trope is fully [[Justified Trope|justified]], as [[MI 5]] is (or at least, it ''was'' when the show started) concerned with domestic security akin to the American FBI, and not exclusively terrorism. The first series was written prior to 9/11 (although some cursory references were inserted after the fact) when Irish splinter groups, xenophobic race-baiting, and economic rioting were the prime sources of potential turmoil.
** And to be fair, some of these would be justified post-9/11 as well, given a quick glance at [[Real Life]].
* [[Will They or Won't They?]]:
* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: Jo, in particular, seems to get roughed up a ''lot''.
{{reflist}}
{{BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series}}
[[Category:TV Series]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 2010s]]
[[Category:British Series]]
[[Category:Crime and Punishment Series]]
▲[[Category:Spooks]]
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