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Spooks Series 3Director: Various Rating: M 600 mins Kaleidoscope Given that the ABC have decided to start running this series, I'm going to try my damnedest not to give any plot points away. But I will say that for those who watched series two and have been waiting to see how its cliff-hanging finale might possibly be resolved, you will doubtless be impressed. In fact, "impressive" seems like a fair way to sum up the entire 'Spooks' experience. Exceptionally well-written and cast, series three continues its predecessors' convention of intense and briskly-paced human drama drawn from the tension between the insular and all-consuming world of British domestic intelligence agency, MI5, and its agents' pursuit of the normal goals of everyday life in the 'real' world. This time around, we see a widening of focus with some of the more peripheral characters fleshed out as they face fresh dilemmas and plots, as well as the introduction of new players and menaces. Ongoing too is the thematic clash of political ideals and personal agendas, personified in this series by Joint Intelligence Committee headkicker, Oliver Mace, played with imposing malice by Tim McInnerny (in something of a turnaround from his best-known role as Percy in 'Blackadder'). Mace takes the baton from Jenny Agutter's Tessa as both thorn in MI5's collective side and amoral yardstick by which the sometimes ambiguous actions of the rest of the cast can be placed in some kind of perspective. By far the most prominent new presence, however, is MI6 draftee, Adam Carter (ably played by Rupert Penry-Jones). Brought in at the behest of MI5 chief, Harry Pierce (Peter Firth), Carter is charged with the task of galvanising and reinvigorating the team. He is something of a novelty in the 'Spooks' universe; an agent who seemingly manages to balance his work with marriage and a family, a feat aided no doubt by the fact that wife, Fiona, (Olga Sosnovska) also works for MI6. To be honest, it's hard to give an objective appraisal of this series, coming as it does in the wake of series two's tour de force. The writers have done well to both bring in some new twists on the standard MI5 grist of terrorists and drug runners and explore previously unseen (but consistent and believable) sides to characters. Perhaps the best way to sum up is to say, simply, that had this been my first taste of the 'Spooks' universe, I would certainly have been itching to acquaint myself with the rest of it. That having been said, with series four in the works, it's difficult to see where they can go from here and still maintain the standard they've set for themselves; though it's equally hard to imagine they aren't savvy enough to know when to stop.  |
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