[spooks] Code 9 - David Hebblethwaite

Spooks: Code 9

Sep. 8th, 2008 at 6:07 PM

I was wrong about Bonekickers. Not about it being a load of nonsense, but about it being made by Kudos Productions. They recently returned with spy drama Spooks: Code 9 (which finished last night), a spin-off of the original Spooks (also known by the title MI-5) -- and, despite a few reservations, I think it wasn't half bad.

Code 9 is set in 2013, after a nuclear bomb destroyed London during the previous year's Olympics. MI5 now operates from a number of field offices, generally staffed by a younger (i.e. twenty-something) workforce. The series focuses on a team of six agents based in Yorkshire, and from a variety of backgrounds: mathematician Charlie; police officer Rachel; ex-criminal Jez (who lost his family after the blast); doctor Rob; entrepreneur Vik; and psychology student Kylie, who's dying of radiation poisoning fro the explosion.

Spooks has never been afraid to kill off its main characters, and this spin-off is no exception: Hannah, the team's leader, is shot dead in the first episode, and Charlie is swiftly appointed her replacement. Over the course of the series, he uncovers evidence that the attack on London (and Hannah's murder) was an inside job -- and that the plotters haven't finished yet...

There is plenty about Code 9 that could be improved: the characters don't come across as distinct personalities; and the plotting isn't as good -- nor the production as slick -- as Spooks at its best. Yet there's something engaging about it for all that; and, as the series closed on a typical cliffhanger (quite similar to that from the first series of Spooks, actually), I found myself wanting to know how it all worked out. I hope they've got another series lined up.

Original article here.