Spooks (MI-5) Fandom Overview

[oceloty]

Hi, I’m oceloty, and I’ll be driving for Spooks (MI-5) this month. It’s a small fandom but has some amazingly literate and talented writers. If you enjoy spy dramas, moral dilemmas, hot-but-emotionally-damaged spies, explosions and/or awesome dialogue, you should check out this show!



"MI-5 don't do evil; just treachery, treason and armageddon."

The show:

Spooks (titled MI-5 in the US) was an action-suspense-drama show about the lives of officers in Britain’s Security Service (MI-5). For ten series, the intrepid spies of MI-5’s counter-terrorism Section D protected Britain against (in no particular order) Neo-Nazis, anarchists, suicide bombers, terrorist cells, evil financiers, the Russians, politicians, the Americans, the Chinese, MI-6, crazy rock stars, international espionage conspiracies (multiple times), and other assorted villains.

“MI-5 not 9-5” was the Spooks tagline, as the show went on to examine lots of permutations about the cost of being spy and the problems that the MI-5 officers brought home from the job. Ongoing themes include the emotional and personal toll exacted by the life of a spy, treachery, loyalty, redemption, and explosions. Terrible accents also recur prominently.

Spooks has been described as the British “24,” but I think that’s mostly because of the series’ high production values, visual style, and tendency to end things on cliffhangers. The authors and readers in Spooks fandom seem to be a pretty literate bunch, perhaps due to the quality of writing and performances (which admittedly vary quite a bit across series). Spooks also has some really fantastic female characters who manage to defy the usual action stereotypes - actually, it’s the male leads who consistently end up consumed by angst and poorly chosen romances. Sorry, Spooks men. At least you’re pretty.

The show’s ten year run can be divided into (roughly) four periods:

• The early years (Series 1-3-ish) started out as a more realistic look at the lives of spies, with a lot of emphasis on spy tradecraft and the emotional toll of the job.  The core characters were ordinary (if highly attractive) people with extraordinary jobs, juggling saving the world with roommate troubles and credit card debt. Spy hijinks and plot contrivances aside, there’s a core of reality in early Spooks that really sets it apart from the later eras and makes for some great fic. This is the era of Tom, Zoe, and Danny, with Tessa, Harry and Ruth stealing a lot of scenes, and the fic from this time period reflects this.

• During the middle years (Series 3-6-ish), Spooks tended to be more larger than life, with more explosions, more melodrama, and more guns. Threats to Britain became more global, so lot of characters were imported from MI-6. Much of the long term storyline was built around Adam and Fiona Carter’s backstory and its fallout in the present day, but the team relationships between Adam, Zaf, and Jo are also important. There was also a conspiracy arc which heavily featured Ros and her family issues.  Ruth and Harry also got a lot of development.

• In its later years (Series 7-9), Spooks started to put a lot more emphasis on the seasonal overarching story arcs. Expect a lot of betrayal, angst, and damaged people, plus the usual number of explosions. The writing had its ups and downs. Some of the earlier elements, such as shocking plot twists and incorporating current events, were used even more heavily, sometimes with mixed results. The cast changed quite a bit over these years. The lead characters (Harry, Ros, Lucas, and Ruth), had some good development and some not so good. The supporting characters (Jo, Connie, Ben, Tariq, Dimitri, and Beth) were generally underdeveloped, but some, especially Connie, got some really great material.

• Spooks’ final series (Series 10) was a bit of a departure in that the entire series was built around Harry’s past coming back to haunt him. The series is shorter than earlier years, so the new team members (Erin and Callum) didn’t get a whole lot of development. The series-long arc focuses on the Gavriks, a Russian family with links to Harry's past, and the final pages of the Harry and Ruth saga.

The Major Characters:

From early in Series 1, Spooks made a name for itself by killing off a prominent lead character in a shockingly fashion. This worked so well that the writers and producers continued the trend throughout the series. The leads and supporting characters change on a regular basis, and characters regularly depart the series in an excess of drama, to the point where it’s surprising when someone leaves MI-5 by a means other than death, destruction, or disgrace.

I’ve tried to give a brief summary of most of the main characters here without spoiling (too much) for later developments.



The Grid: Section D’s home base in MI-5 Thames House headquarters. The look changes from series to series, but the modern look remains.



London: Also not technically a character, but always prominently featured in visuals on the show, and a very central element of Spooks.



Sir Harry Pearce (played by Peter Firth): Head of the Counter-Terrorism Department (Section D) in MI-5. Harry has the distinction of being the only main character to appear regularly in all ten series of the show. He enjoys classical music, dry wit, and secretly assassinating his enemies. He regularly prioritizes service to his country above all else, with unfortunate consequences for his personal life and his subordinates. Harry and Ruth Evershed (see below) have a not-exactly romance which is regularly interrupted by both parties’ dedication to duty and the usual assortment of threats to Britain.



Tom Quinn (Matthew MacFayden): chief of Section D (under Harry Pearce) at the start of the show (Series 1-3). Tom is competent, a little uptight, and broody. He’s great at his job, but when it comes to romantic relationships, he is a bit of a mess. At the beginning of the show, he struggles through a relationship with Ellie, a normal single mom whom he meets while undercover. His other major onscreen relationship pairing, with CIA agent Christine Dale, also has its problems. Tom and Harry have personal issues as well (though not of a romantic nature, at least not on screen). He has a good relationship with his team members, Zoe Reynolds and Danny Hunter.



Zoe Reynolds (Keeley Hawes): field officer in Section D (Series 1-3). Zoe is perky and competent, though a bit prone to go to the waterworks at key dramatic moments, and very good at undercover work. She faces a lot of harsh realities about human nature throughout her time with section D. Zoe eventually shares a flat with fellow agent Danny Hunter, with whom she is close friends. As with Tom, her romantic relationships lead to all sorts of troubles.



Danny Hunter (David Oyelowo): field officer in Section D (Series 1-3). Danny is cocky, rather flamboyant but a loyal friend with a good heart. He starts off as the least experienced team member and is very eager to prove himself. He’s a great friend to Zoe. Tom, Zoe and Danny are the core characters in the show’s early series.



Malcolm Wynn-Jones (Hugh Simon): technical officer in Section D (series 1-9).  Malcolm is Section D’s resident, somewhat eccentric technical genius. He goes from endearingly socially awkward to the everyman stand-in.  The show doesn’t give him all that much character development, but fandom makes up for that by universally adoring him. Well, how can anyone not love a man who figures out how to defuse a bomb by microwaving it?



Ruth Evershed (Nicola Walker): analyst in section D, (Series 2-4 and 8-10). Ruth started out at GCHQ (for Americans, sort of like the NSA). Ruth is completely hilarious, frequently flustered, and has a brain the size of a planet. Over the course of the show, she goes from falling over with excitement at joining MI-5 to an experienced officer. Her main romantic pairing is with Harry. Unfortunately, it never seems to be the right time for Ruth and Harry, which is how the writers manage to stretch their is-it-really-a-relationship? across almost the entire run of the show.



Adam Carter (Rupert Penry-Jones): chief of Section D (Series 3-7). Adam transfers from MI-6 in Series 3 and then takes over the section after Tom’s departure. He’s portrayed a bit of a rogue, with a tendency to plan on the fly, and has a complex backstory which led him to get married to another MI-6 agent (Fiona Carter) and have a son named Wes. Adam starts out as a more classic hero type than Tom. Later on, he has PTSD arc that lasts about 5000 years, or so it seems. Adam recruits Jo Portman and has a mentoring relationship with her.



Zafar Younis (Raza Jaffrey): field officer in Section D (series 4-6). Like Adam, Zaf comes to the Grid as an experienced field officer from MI-6. He clearly respects Adam a great deal but is much more laid back, yet still competent. He is close with Jo Portman who joins the team around the same time and the two have a great friendship.



Jo Portman (Miranda Raison): field officer in Section D (series 4-8). Jo starts as a journalist and gets recruited into MI-5 by Adam Carter. She is warm and compassionate, a bit of a bleeding heart. Don't be fooled, though, Jo is a tough cookie. Throughout her tenure on the show, she goes from new recruit to experienced officer. (It’s an arc that gets used a lot.) Jo, Zaf, and Adam form the core of the series 4-6 team.



Ros Myers (Hermione Norris): field officer in Section D, later chief of section D (series 4-8). Ros comes to section D by way of MI-6, after which everything gets very complicated. At various times, she’s working for MI-6, with MI-5, against MI-5, for MI-5, and as the chief of Section D of MI-5. Ros is tough, blunt, and quippy, the kind of spy who makes sure her Jimmy Choos are nice and sharp before every mission, just in case she needs to stab someone with the heels. She’s also been known to kill people with forks (really!). Ros has family issues and biggest onscreen relationship is a surrogate father/daughter relationship with Harry Pearce.



Connie James (Gemma Jones): analyst in Section D (series 6-7):  Connie looks like everyone’s grandmother but is actually more devious than several intelligence services combined. Connie’s fond of gin (straight from the bottle!), pointed humor, and running circles around the whippersnappers.



Lucas North (Richard Armitage): field officer in Section D, later chief of section D (series 7-9). Lucas has an insanely complicated backstory. Though he doesn’t appear until series 7, he is a longstanding MI-5 officer who was captured during an operation (pre-series) and held prisoner by the Russians for eight years. He’s a very haunted and enigmatic character, to say the least. Lucas is prone to cheeky humor and getting injured. In the tradition of Spooks leading men, he stumbles his way through a succession of doomed love affairs with increasingly improbable women. His biggest long-term relationships are with Ros (BFF but not romantic in canon) and Harry, which whom Lucas has massive trust issues. Series 9 reveals a gigantic retcon about his character’s origin which some fans find highly controversial. Denial is also acceptable.



Dimitri Levendis (Max Brown): field officer in Section D (series 9-10). Dimitri is ex-SBS (Special Boat Service - British Special Forces) solider who likes defusing bombs. He is a cheerful Boy Scout sort - brave and decent and a little naive.

Other awesome characters: The Iist was just too big, so some regular cast members aren't listed, including the new regulars in S10. Even more, Spooks had way too many excellent supporting characters and guest stars to even start discussing them. Just keep in mind that you will see a lot of other MI-5 officers, Home Secretaries and assorted politicians, romantic interests, agents of other intelligence services, etc. in fic.

The fanfic:

Spooks has featured some of the very best writers, actors, and directors in the field, although the quality does vary quite a bit across the series. The show has changed enough over its ten year run to have built a diverse fandom. You can find noir-ish spy stories, suspense, romance, humor, and drama, all within the same fandom. Whether you are attracted to the espionage and suspense elements, to the fascinating, often very damaged, characters, or to the ongoing themes of loyalty, betrayal, and sacrifice, you’ll find some great stories and talented writers in Spooks fandom. Although the show ran for ten years, each series is quite short by US standards, so it’s surprisingly easy to get into the swing of things.

All of the leads (Tom, Zoe, Danny, Ruth, Adam, Zaf, Jo, Ros, Lucas, and Harry) turn up quite a bit in fic. Interest in the supporting characters is a bit more sporadic, though some, like Connie, are even more intriguing in the written word. There’s also team-centric fic from every era and as for romance ...

The relationships:

Oh boy. Do you have spare week or two?

Because of the rotating cast, the show as aired averages about 1-2 main romantic pairings per series. There's about an even split between the pairings within and outside of MI-5. Usually, the latter type are the focus of a story arc, with the non-MI-5 character being a springboard to introduce other characters and plot elements. A lot of the canon pairings don't get much fic written about them, perhaps because pairings were often done primarily for plot reasons and/or the non-MI-5 partners usually didn't get much in the way of development.

The canon pairings are somewhat spoilery because they are often important to the plot. Some canon pairings of particular significance:

• Harry / Ruth (by far the single biggest pairing in Spooks)
• Tom / Ellie
• Tom / Christine Dale (the CIA liason)
• Tom / crazy doctor
• Zoe / Will North (photographer)
• Adam / Fiona Carter
• Adam / Anna Bakshi
• Adam / the babysitter (insert joke here about Adam/anything with a pulse joke)
• Adam / Ros (insert joke here about whether Ros has a pulse)
• Lucas / Elizabeta Starkova (his Russian ex-wife)
• Lucas / Sarah Walker (the other CIA liason)
• Lucas / Maya Lahan
• Harry / Elena Gavrik

The men of section D really get around.

Non-canon pairings are pretty diverse. There's a lot of pairing up colleagues who had great friendship chemistry.

• Zoe/Danny
• Malcolm/Colin
• Zaf / Jo
• Adam / Ros
• Ros / Lucas
• Ros / Andrew Lawrence
• Lucas / OFC
• Beth / Lucas
• Tom / Adam
• Adam / Zaf
• Adam / Lucas
• Dimitri / Tariq
• Dimitri / Erin

And more, but you get the idea.

Online Resources

This is just what I’ve come across. Feel free to post any additional resources -- they would definitely be appreciated.

BBC Spooks site
No longer updated, but includes episode guides for all the seasons if you want to catch up.

Spooky Doings
The biggest livejournal community, with a lot of fanfic and icons.

Spooks Creative
Fanfic community, not currently active.

Fanfiction.net

Archive of Our Own
Includes stories from many sources, including quite a few archived Yuletide requests and a few crossovers.

Yuletide Spooks Stories

Spooks Forum

Spooks Information Central Forum

Spooks Wikia
All the background not included here.

In addition, many stories can be found on message boards and sites devoted to individual characters or actors. Some of these boards require registration or have restricted membership, so the stories there cannot be recced here.

Disclaimers:

• Spooks is thoroughly British, but your driver is not, so please forgive any errors and non-British usage.
• Your driver is also pretty new to the fandom, so the stories recommended here are in no way a complete representation.
• Photos were taken from various incarnations of the BBC Spooks web site and from Kudos.
• If you read this far, you deserve some sort of medal.