Spooks - Series 2 - Complete (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Brilliant character development
Disadvantages:	Won't suit everyone's taste

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Spooks is one of those programmes that I just adore. Unfortunately however I can't say that I jumped on the Spooks bandwagon from the very start. To be perfectly honest though the reason for this was the fact that I was only 12 when the first series originally aired and therefore it just wasn't part of my viewing although my dad was watching it. I personally caught on during series 3 and then decided that the best thing for me to do would be to get the previous series' on DVD to ensure that I didn't miss out on anything.

General Information

Series 2 first aired on BBC in June 2003 and is all about a branch of the British Secret Service called MI5. It centres around not only the professional lives of the agents but also their personal lives too because as you can imagine when you throw yourself into a job as much as they do then it is often quite difficult to separate the two. This gives the audience the ability to grow accustomed to the shows main characters and to peer deeper into the lives that they live.

What You Get

The second series DVD box set contains all 10 episodes from the second series, with each episode focusing on a different issue or task but with long running storylines and threads running between them. The box set also includes a plethora of special features, which like the episodes themselves can all be watched with subtitles.

The Characters

Harry Pearce played by Peter Firth heads up the counter-terrorism department that the show is based around. He is calm collected and series about his job but at the same time has a fantastic sense of humour. Harry is well-respected by all of the team and this series really allows this to shine due to the situations in which the team are placed.

Section leader and therefore head of the day-to-day operations of the Spooks is Tom Quinn played by Matthew McFadden. Despite his somewhat complex relationship issues Tom is more than dedicated to his job. He is respected and loved by his work colleagues but sometimes expects them to do more than can really be asked of them.

Next in line Danny Hunter who is played by David Ovelowo. After going through a tough patch in the first series Danny seems to have sorted out most of his difficulties. Good performances at work have boosted his credibility and proved that he is ultimately good at his job.

Zoë Reynolds played by Keeley Hawes was a newcomer to MI5 in series 1. During her probation period she proved herself to be a more than a credible undercover agent. Zoë is confident and will stand her ground with anyone if she feels she is right. She is also extremely loyal to her job as well as to her colleagues.

Malcolm and Colin are MI5's technical team. Malcolm is charismatic but ultimately quite shy although his humour is one of a kind. Colin is again very shy and deeply conscious of his job but again he gels well with the team and proves to be a brilliant asset.

The first newcomer of this series is Sam Buxton. Sam is a young officer but like Zoë proves to be good at any job she is given. Unfortunately Sam is slightly naïve and this does cause problems at times.

The second newcomer is Ruth Evershed. Ruth is a shy yet ultimately fantastic at her job. Unfortunately she is merely on loan from GCHQ and therefore often finds herself doing things to try and impress the rest of the team to keep her.

The Episodes

Due the fact that there are 10 episodes in this box-set I am not going to tell you about each one in turn as quite simply this would take too long and would probably ruin some of the surprise of watching the series itself. I am therefore going to give you an overview of the entire series.

Series 2 is high-octave and action packed from the very start and sees all of the officers within MI5 pushed to their limits on more than one occasion. The technical team of Malcolm and Colin also feature much more highly in this series therefore highlighting the need for good and strong technical support as well as intelligence and field agents.

Throughout the series the team must deal with every situation thrown at them in a professional manner that will not only save their skins but also the security of the country. They must acquire potential dangerous computer software relating to weaponry that could wipe out the country, deal with a potential revolution amongst the ranks of the army and try and infiltrate a mosque they believe to be training young people to become human bombs. As well as this they must go through a rigorous training exercise, which has been set up to test their emergency procedures and deal with a computer genius that could shut down the country.

On top of their work the team must together try and overcome the pressures of living such a secret life. They must deal with the stress that it places upon their personal lives and cope with the devastation and the destruction that they work with daily.

The final episode in the series "Smoke a Mirrors" is a very powerful episode in many ways as it highlights the high-risk job of a government spy. This episode is a tremendous cliffhanger as we see Tom and MI5's CIA liaison with whom Tom is having a relationship become implicated in a series of events that could end both their careers in a flash. Not realising the seriousness of the situation Tom keeps calling upon Zoë and Danny to help but soon the situation is spiralling out of all their control leaving Tom with very little choice.

This episode is absolutely fabulous in every single way. The camera work and character development is like in the other episodes stunning from the start. It is however the empathy that the actors create and the sometimes poignant speeches that make the episode so memorable. Trust me when I say that the second is finishes you won't be able to wait long enough to put the third series DVD in the player.

The Special Features

The special features on the discs are plentiful but irritatingly are spread across the 5 discs, which in my opinion is a little annoying should you want to watch them all at once. The features include interviews with cast members, deleted scenes, trailors, a gallery and information on how the series was created and how it was written.

All if the features are quite interesting to watch and the featurettes on how the show was written and 'The Story Conferences' are in particular very appealing to Spooks fans as they give a real insight into the show as a whole.

The interviews are of a decent length, which sin't often the case with special features and they all add a little something to your picture of the character being discussed. Like in most interviews however the actors have to be careful what they reveal and although I understand this it is still something that bugs me a little.

The trailors contained on teh discs are the same as those that were shown on the television and so nothing special here but the deleted scenes are well worth a viewing. Some of them you can spot straight awya why they weren't included in the final versions of the episodes but others seemingly add more information and can be quite enlightening to watch.

Conclusion

Due to the nature of the topics being discussed this show however could have become rather dry and a times clinical but the introduction of humour at exactly the right moments makes the show a real gem to watch. This combined with the use of characters that have very human flaws makes the show seem very realistic - sometimes too realistic that the episodes can at times be quite harrowing. Spooks is therefore are not suitable for younger viewers at all and the 15 guideline should in my opinion be strongly adhered too.

Spooks is definitely something that I would recommend although it is exceptionally easy to become swept up in the whole atmosphere of the programme and I guarantee that once you have seen this series you'll want to see the rest.