Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Standards slipping, but still great entertainment, 20 Oct 2008
The three-star rating applies to a comparison with past series of this programme, not to television dramas in general.
This series takes different approach to those in the past - the story line is continuous, as opposed to self-contained episodes in the past. However the meaning of each episode is cumulative and so to understand what is happening in a current episode one has to have a good memory of what had happened in previous ones. This does create extra complexity, which for me is great, but could be irritating for others.
The major flaw in this series is that in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, there is a greater emphasis on thrills and spills which sacrifices script quality and leads to very implausible situations and cliche endings. For example, in one episode Adam Carter is ordered to carry out "soft" surveillance on a subject going into a store. He does this by standing outside its front window, looking inside, with ear-piece in full-view. A 10 year-old could figure out this is not good spying! In terms of cliche, in one episode Harry does a lot of illegal things but is able to keep his job by turning up some dirty stuff on the Home Secretary - hardly original or exciting.
I loved previous series for intelligent script-writing, the raising of complicated problems with no easy answers, and presenting ethical dilemmas, again with no easy solutions. A lot of this has been lost in the search of thrills. The programme continues to be very enjoyable to watch, but I hope the producers reverse the latest trend in the upcoming series if they don't want the programme to become just like any other ho-hum thriller that does not require an IQ to watch.
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lest we forget!, 29 Jun 2008
Spooks is a series set in the fictional Section D of the real MI5. The action is packed into an hour long episode without really ever letting up. So, just as a side point of reference, when the US bought it and edited it down to 40 minutes (to fit in their hour slot with commercials) it really is super-fast action packed.
Some reviewers on here are citing the BBC sloppily dealing with issues on facist terrorism, as this seems to appear every series, well for a start, that is down to KUDOS the production company in charge of the production, the BBC merely commission a series. For a second, sadly, the let's-blow-everyone-to-kingdom-come-terrorism is still pretty much in the focus of national security, and SPOOKS always tries to make the stories relevent.
One reviewer on here says that "no-one in their right mind would confuse SPOOKS with the real MI5"...so I should think! It's a TV programme, if they were to show what REALLY goes on in MI5 when dealing with issues like this, no one would watch. It's rather like confusing James Bond with the real MI6 or a show like Big Brother with quality entertainment.
SPOOKS has never tried be anything it's not. It's never tried to do anything but provide high-action, intelligent story-lines that are some how relevent to the society we live in and indeed take a look at some of the issues that the nation "have to deal with". It's all very clever, it's all very entertaining (even the bits that scare the c**p out of you.) and the bottom line is this, SPOOKS succeeds where others have failed, and the others have failed big time.
We all know that it is all highly unlikely, that some of the situations are a little dubious and that never in a million years would we really believe that a government organisation gets through a day without having to fill in numerous requisition forms, in triplicate, before even leaving the office, but heck...that is why we watch it...for entertainment, excitment and fun...not for a highly accurate portrayal of the Secret Service...isn't it?!?
In conclusion, SPOOKS has continued to thrill audiences for six series, and having a big continuous arc this series was inspired. I can think of worse ways of spending ten hours and I would recommend this series anytime! Roll on season 7!
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26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding drama throughout., 23 Dec 2007
I was expecting Spooks to run out of steam by series 6 but boy was I wrong! Series 6 was different to previous series in that it focused on one main story throughout and brought in other elements along the way. Consistently excellent with suspense, so many twists and turns and the now compulsory death(s) of main characters Spooks series 6 ranks as one of the best TV programmes of 2007. I think the makers of 24 in the US should really take a look at this series after their poor last season of Jack Bauers adventures.
Highly recommended.
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