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Haunted by the new spooks?

By Paul Cole on Jul 31, 08 01:15 PM

Baffled by the bus billboards all round town?

Spooked by some unfamiliar faces?

Well, now you can rest at ease.

Spooks Code 9.jpg

Spooks: Code 9 is a spin-off series from the MI5 drama we've all come to love.

It starts on BBC Three on Sunday August 10 with a bang.

And how!

The year is 2013. Thames House is gone and regional MI5 Field Offices have sprung up in its place.

London has been evacuated following a nuclear bomb blast and the country's power base has shifted north. In the wake of the attack, MI5 must completely restructure and establish field offices across the UK, working to gather intelligence from the very heart of local communities.

They need young, new officers on the ground - and fast.

Luckily, Britain's youth is more than up to the challenge and is fighting back from the attack with a new sense of patriotism, combined with the hedonism that comes from being face to face with their own mortality.

It is members of this new generation of patriots who help make up MI5's new Field Office 19.

But are six young new recruits tough, moral and clever enough to protect Britain's future?


"After the bomb, MI5 needed new officers with ability, dedication and potential on the streets as soon as possible," explains producer Chris Fry. "The team rallied to this call and joined MI5 in the weeks following the atrocity.

"With the exception of their team leader, none of them have been in the field for more than four months and they will continually find themselves in situations beyond their experience and training - they'll only succeed through grit and determination."

Joanne.jpg

Led by experienced spook Hannah (Joanne Froggatt, Life On Mars) - pictured left - the rookie team includes Charlie (Liam Boyle, Drop Dead Gorgeous), a mathematician and genius problem solver.

There's Rachel (Ruta Gedmintas, The Tudors), an ex-police officer with ambitions to be a leader, and Jez (Heshima Thompson, Prime Suspect: The Final Act), a new breed of spook altogether - a former criminal gone straight.

Code 9 georgia.jpg


Also in the team, Vik (Christopher Simpson, Brick Lane) chose MI5 over a career in his family's business, while Rob (Andrew Knott, The History Boys) was a junior doctor at the time of the bomb and Kylie (Georgia Moffett, Doctor Who's daughter) - pictured right - was a psychology student just back from her gap year.

"Nearly one year on from the bomb, Britain is starting to get back to something resembling normality," says executive producer Karen Wilson.

"But, under the surface, there have been massive changes: terror warnings and security checkpoints are regular features of everyday life, and there's a flourishing black market in everything from ID cards to anti-radiation drugs.

"This is the world of Spooks: Code 9 and it holds a whole new set of dangers for MI5's young pretenders."

Sarah Brandist, Commissioning Editor, Independent Drama, says: "It's brilliant to have the chance of looking into the future of Spooks with Spooks: Code 9 on BBC Three.

"The series promises to be as entertaining and action-packed as Spooks on BBC One has always been, whilst bringing a more maverick, younger perspective."

In line with BBC Three's multi-platform strategy, Spooks: Code 9 will be accompanied by an exciting online extension, produced by Kudos and leading alternate reality game studio Six to Start.

Meanwhile, series 7 of Spooks is set to begin in September, according to Rupert Penry-Jones, who plays Adam Carter.

Returning will be Peter Firth (Harry Pearce), Alex Lampunekin (Ben Kaplan), Hugh Simon (Malcolm Wynn-Jones) and Gemma Jones (Connie James).

Also returning to the grid after her staged death will be Hermione Norris as Ros Myers for an unknown number of episodes.

Spooks Miranda.jpg

They'll be joined by Richard Armitage as Lucas North, an agent who has been held in a Russian prison for the past eight years.

But there remain two big questions.

Did Jo Portman (Miranda Raison) - pictured right - die after last season's cliffhanger? And will long-lost Zoe Reynolds (Keeley Hawes) be making a shocking comeback, perhaps on the dark side?

* Tune in to Spooks: Code 9 on BBC Three at 9pm on Sunday August 10.

See the trailer here.

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4 Comments

Alan said:

Please PLEASE tell us when in September the REAL Spooks will be returning?

This Spooks Code 9 is SO dire that I have absolutely HAD to give up on it.

Please alleviate my damaged sensibilities by letting me know when my beloved Spooks will be back?

Paul Cole said:

Latest word is that the REAL Spooks may be back on September 14. But they've already changed the date once, so don't hold your breath just yet!

Jan said:

Having watched first few episodes of the new Spooks Code 9, I must say that I am very much hoping the origial series will come on the TV screens with the new series Spooks 7. As to the new, Code 9, I find it a bit unrealistic, and slightly chavvy - though the story is not that bad. Please bring back the original Spooks

jinx said:

"Spooks: Code 9" has little or nothing to do with the real "Spooks" and is just a way for Kudos to cash in on the franchise with this cheap, shallow and unconvincing tosh. Hopefully Kudos will realise that they are undermining their own reputation and both they and the BBC will quietly put this turkey out of its misery.
I suggest that the entire series should be chucked in the nearest deep-fat fryer.
An insult to the Spooks brand

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