Lisa Graves Barb Alexander Popular Books

Lisa Graves Barb Alexander Biography & Facts

Spooks (known as MI-5 in some countries) is a British television spy drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 to 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid. In the United States, the show is broadcast under the title MI-5. In Canada, the programme originally aired as MI-5, but later aired on BBC Canada as Spooks. The series continued with a film, Spooks: The Greater Good, which was released on 8 May 2015. Series synopses The show consists of 86 episodes, beginning in May 2002 and ending in October 2011. Most episodes end with the final scene freezing and changing to a black-and-white negative image that then compresses with a distinctive sound effect into a flat white line against a black screen. Series 1 Starring Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Jenny Agutter, and Peter Firth, the initial series of six one-hour episodes premiered 13 May 2002. Due to its combination of stylistic photography with fast-paced storylines, the series was a critical and popular success, averaging 7.5 million viewers over its six episodes. The second episode gained notoriety for the violent killing of character Helen Flynn (Lisa Faulkner), which drew the largest number of complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Commission in 2002. During an undercover operation Helen and Tom were captured by race riot instigator Robert Osborne, played by Kevin McNally, who tortured Helen with a deep fryer in an attempt to make Tom reveal classified information. He refused and she was killed. This provoked an angry reaction from many viewers who jammed BBC phone switchboards with complaints, despite the show airing after the 9 pm watershed. Series 2 With the success of the first series, a second, longer series of ten episodes was commissioned and subsequently aired in 2003. New regular characters Sam Buxton (Shauna Macdonald) and Ruth Evershed (Nicola Walker), were introduced in the first and second episodes respectively, while the series finale ended with a dramatic cliffhanger. The series averaged 7.1 million viewers. Series 3 A third series of ten episodes was transmitted on BBC One in the autumn of 2004 and concluded on 13 December. The first episode features Rupert Penry-Jones as Adam Carter, who was drafted in from MI6 to help investigate Tom's disappearance. He later takes over Tom's position as Section Chief after the latter jeopardised an important operation. In episode six, Zoe is taken to court for misconduct during an operation and is forced to leave MI5 and assume a new identity in Chile. She is replaced by Adam's wife, Fiona (Olga Sosnovska). In the series finale, Danny is killed while he and Fiona are being held hostage. Audience figures dropped to a series average of 5.8 million viewers. Series 4 The fourth series of Spooks began airing on Monday 12 September 2005 on BBC One at 9 pm with the first installment of a two-part story. The next day (Tuesday 13 September) the second episode was shown. The following week Spooks began airing in the Thursday 9 pm slot, a change from the Monday 9 pm slot that the previous three series had occupied. Once again, the series ran for ten episodes. It averaged 6.05 million viewers per episode, notably more than the previous series. The opening two-part episode introduces two new characters to the series, Zafar Younis (Raza Jaffrey, whose character had first appeared in the final episode of series three), and Juliet Shaw (Anna Chancellor). The storyline involves a terrorist bombing in central London, something that, in reality, took place on 7 July, two months before the episode was due to air, but after it had already been filmed. According to The Guardian newspaper, the day the first episode aired, "The similarities were sufficient to cause head of drama, Jane Tranter and new BBC One controller Peter Fincham to agonise over whether to drop the episodes." The episodes were eventually aired unedited, although before both instalments of the two-parter the BBC One continuity announcer warned viewers that they featured scenes of terrorist bombing in London which some viewers might find disturbing. In episode seven, the character Fiona Carter is killed because the actress portraying her, Olga Sosnovska, was pregnant during filming and chose to leave the programme. In that story arc, Fiona attempts to kill her deranged ex-husband, who she thought had been hanged several years earlier. However, her ex-husband ultimately abducts her and later shoots her dead in Adam's presence during her attempted escape. Fiona Carter is replaced at MI5 by Jo Portman (played by Miranda Raison), a character who had been recruited by Adam Carter in a previous episode. Series 5 The fifth (ten-part) series of Spooks aired its first episode in two parts, the first appearing on 17 September 2006. In it, elements within the British Government, MI6 and the UK press conspire in an attempt to overthrow the Parliament and the Prime Minister. These elements agree that for Britain to survive the threats posed by modern-day terrorism, democracy had to be replaced with rule by committee. The second part followed the next day (18 September), marking Spooks's return to BBC One's Monday night schedule. These episodes introduced Ros Myers (Hermione Norris). This series's storylines include a fake home-grown Al-Qaeda cell that plans an attack on London; the British government selling nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia; and the US administration selling arms to African dictators. The ratings for this series remained consistent with those of the previous series, averaging six million viewers. Series 6 The sixth series was commissioned by Jane Tranter, Head of Drama Commissioning at the BBC, by the time series 5 was announced. The series returned on 16 October 2007 at 9 pm on BBC One, and concluded on 18 December. The series averaged 5.68 million viewers (the lowest to date) The sixth series was different in certain respects from the previous five because it had a dominant storyline running through the entire season and the show contained end credits for the first time. There was also a less frequent use of the soundtrack composed by Jennie Muskett. The primary storyline of Series 6 follows Iran seeking the ability to manufacture its own nuclear weapons and searching for sellers of nuclear armaments components. The governments of several nations (principally the United States and its CIA, Russia's FSB, and a shadowy third organisation composed of disenfranchised members of other agencies, including MI5) are woven throughout the plot. Simon Abkarian plays the Iranian Special Consul liaising with the various governments. Agni Scott as his wife, Matthew Marsh as the CIA station chief, and Robert Glenister as the British Home Secretary, all have recur.... Discover the Lisa Graves Barb Alexander popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Lisa Graves Barb Alexander books.