Monthly arts column

Monday nights have just got more thrilling. Eleanor Margesson watches as the fifth series of Spooks unfolds on BBC1.

Imagine you are a spy. Your mission: to bug the house of a terror suspect in order to gain intelligence about their imminent bombing campaign. As you enter the empty house on a rainy night, a cat escapes past you into the dark. What do you do?

This classic moment in the first ever episode of the BBC’s MI5 thriller Spooks gives us the answer — you need to leave the place exactly as you found it. So you’ll need a bowl of cat food and a hairdryer to leave no trace that might alert the suspicions of your target. It is this sort of attention to detail and wry comedy, mixed with high tension drama that has led the original series created by David Wolstencroft to such success that a sixth season has already been commissioned. Last month saw the first screenings of season five with a brilliant two-parter playing on consecutive nights in order to remind fans of the original concepts and to net in new addicts.

Up-and-down writers

The fan sites all reveal the general consensus of those who’ve been gripped from the start; that series five picks up on the glory days of one and two. Series three and four fell below par in the eyes of many when the much loved stars of the show were replaced and the focus shifted from actionâ to soapâ as the personal lives of characters were given more airtime than the missions. This was put down to a change in writers for series three and four. The first series (written by Wolstencroft) and the second (by a team of individual writers) were based around the three spies who formed the backbone of the narrative. Plots involved them going on missions while trying to square their covert activities with their private lives. The BAFTA-winning franchise attracted attention and critical praise not only for its acting and visual delights but also for uncannily engaging with matters of national interest during a five-year period rife with news headlines, giving the impression that fact had taken its lead from fiction. The programme has almost served as a ‘behind the scenes’ drama documentary of the difficulties facing MI5 in the throws of the age of Al Qaeda.

However, although this issue of national security, for which MI5 is responsible, drives the concept, the imminent and expected risks are not just from terrorists. There are all sorts of activists bent on mass destruction who are motivated by a myriad of causes, religious or otherwise. The action required by the agents, who we grow to know and love, frequently puts them in significant danger as they bug, follow, recruit and act their way towards a solution.

Ends and means

David Wolstencroft has stated that he is political with a small rather than a big P. He was anxious to write Spooksâ with popular attitudes and trends in mind rather than getting involved in precise political policy. In terms of ideology, Spooks stays mainly in the stream of humanitarian common sense. Interestingly, this is generally along the lines of the end justifies the means. This has been most evident in the new character of MI5 agent Ros, in series five, episode three, who doesn’t feel much remorse over the death of a member of the public whom she recruits to get close to a suicide bomber. She believes that anything goes in pursuit of the ‘greater good’.

Indeed, there is often the sense of some sort of moral dilemma that the agents need to grapple with. Some even seem to be showing the anguish behind decisions that make our newspaper headlines. A prime example of this was the shooting of a suspect who may or may not have held the remote detonator that was about to trigger a bomb, which rang bells with the shooting of Jean Charles de Mendes. It was the right decision, but it would be surprising to see a storyline that dealt with the alternatives. Spooks can be as liberal in policy as The West Wingâ and as flagrant in its disregard for the rules as 24, yet this is nonetheless a distinctly British production in its restraint and tact.

Double agents?

The tagline of the original series stated: ‘They search for the truth. Their lives are a lie’. The Bible makes no bones about the integrity and necessity of Joshua sending spies into the land before they enter it, yet it also warns that Christians need to take care not to live their lives as double agents. It is all too easy to hide our true identities as servants of the Lord from our friends and colleagues and to regard our involvement in church and evangelism as covert activities. As they live out the truth, Christians are commanded by Jesus to ‘Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven’.

Spooks is shown at 9.00 pm on Mondays on BBC1 and a preview of the following week’s episode can be seen the same evening at 10.30 pm on BBC3. More information can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/spooks.

Keeping all my secrets safe tonight

Up-and-down writers

Ends and means

Double agents?

Main Articles

Other articles