30 Days of Telly Meme - Day 02

[lost_spook]

Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching: SpooksI think I'm supposed to pick something relatively unknown, but the amount of people who aren't watching Spooks when it's on seems to be shocking. Not non-UK people, obviously, but Brits when it's on TV every autumn. I mean, if you like your TV relatively fluffy, fair enough, but

Comments

[persiflage_1]

Well now there's a surprise choice... (NOT!)

[lost_spook]

Looking at the list, I think there are some questions I may not even need to bother answering... :lol:

[persiflage_1]

*grins*

[lost_spook]

I mean, go on, guess day 4.

*rolls eyes*

[boro_girl]

How do people actually choose not to watch Spooks? Seriously. I mean, Harry/Ruth alone is AWESOME.

[lost_spook]

Aw. Well, despite my tendency to recommend things right, left and centre, I have every respect for people's own taste and choices - I don't see much point if watching a show feels more like self-imposed punishment or something.

Although I should point out that Harry/Ruth is there from the first moment she walks through the door in 2.2 (despite her crush on Tom) and becomes noticeable to even the dimmer viewer like me by the end of S3, and S4 is where we get proper Harry/Ruth. So that's two seasons without it. ;-) (Just to be correct here.)

And S3 was the most depressing, I have to say. Personally, I think S4 is a reason to keep on watching in itself - it and S2 are my clear favourites. And there are other incentives, although I do still prefer S1-4 rather than 5-8. But it's my second favourite show, so I'm just a tad biased here. I know what you mean about the unhappy endings (!), but I do also like the flip side of that - all bets are off, and no one's safety is guaranteed...

[dbskyler]

Okay, I've obviously known for some time that you like "Spooks" (subtle you are not *g*), but I've always assumed the show wasn't available over here because I'd never heard of it. But this entry of yours prompted me to try googling it just to learn a little more about it, and guess what? It is available over here, just under a different name! It's called "MI-5" -- which I have vaguely heard of, although I've never seen it -- and what's more, I've discovered that volumes 1-6 are available to rent through my Netflix service.

So, I'm in! Where would you suggest I start? At the beginning?

[lost_spook]

Well, at the beginning of a season, anyway! Yes, it's MI5 abroad (apparently Spooks has unfortunate other meanings in the US), but the one thing to watch out for is that the US MI5 is usually edited (it's a BBC show here, so that's 1 hr solid, with no breaks, whereas it gets edited down to 45 mins for the US), so it still works, but you may find people talking about lighter character moments you never saw... :lol

[dbskyler]

Usually shows are only cut for broadcast, so since this is a rental service I should hopefully be okay. And hmmm, I don't tend to like bleak shows, but the rest does sound interesting. I'll give it a try, at least.

2002 is old? What does it say about me that that doesn't sound old to me at all? Of course, some of my favorite shows are from the '60s . . .

Are you really saying I'm not subtle?

Sorry, my bad, I really have no idea what TV shows you like. And I'm sure you have no idea what shows I like, either. ; )

[lost_spook]

Well, it's not 'Ooh, look, aren't I clever for being Bleak' type stuff. It just won't play by the rules of TV, and bad things will happen to good people. But, yes, if you prefer your TV a bit lighter, it can go very dark from time to time. Because of the whole fighting terrorist things, in terms of both actually do that, the ethical dilemmas involved and the effect on the characters who aren't James Bond types

[stellastars]

I suspect that if I read your entries for this meme, I am going to end up watching a lot of new television. ;-)

(Also: I might have to do this meme myself.)

So... Spooks! Tell me more! How many seasons are there? Are there episodes that are critical to understanding the show? What is the single best reason why people should watch it?

♥

[lost_spook]

Heh, well it does depend. It can getquite dark in places, and stuff. It's known as MI5 generally abroad, but Spooks here, and it's about MI5's counter terrorism section. There are 8 series so far with a ninth in production currently. (There are 10 eps per season, except for S7 and 8 which have been cut down to 8).

It likes to begin each season as a kind of reboot, even though much continues. Significant episodes? Well, 1.01, 1.02 and 2.5 are probably the ones I'd go for, but there are plenty of people who've never seen the early seasons. I think I posted a Spooks-love post with non-spoilerish posts a while back, so I will see if I can find it.

Plus, the whole weirdness & wonder that is Harry Pearce/Ruth Evershed is definitely a selling point. In fact, both Harry Pearce and Ruth Evershed are selling points... :-)

[stellastars]

That's interesting, that each season reboots the series a bit. 70 some episodes, hmm... Well, maybe I'll have to look for a few of them.

Thanks for the link to the Spooks Love Post! It was very helpful!

[lost_spook]

Spooks love post here. Much sarcasm is involved.

[zulu_ottawa]

Haha, yesssss!

So agreed. Saving the world gets a little old, but for the complexity of characters alone I love it. And the nostalgia I have for early seasons.......

[lost_spook]

Yes, those early seasons when they just saved one tiny bit of the world at time and moaned about the inconvenience of doing it in between. :lol:

Yes - I love it still and it never fails to pull out a few surprises, but I loves me the original team, the grid interaction and those days when we still had Howard Brenton writing scripts.

[zulu_ottawa]

The nostalgia is setting in..... lol.

I still love it, series 7 killed me (Connie! Lucas! Neil Cross!), but you are right - I miss Tom, and the fantastically sardonic Jools, plus 2.5 was the best episode in the show's history ever, and they never set foot outside the pods. :D

[lost_spook]

Oh, yes. S7 was very cool. And I like our current team. Someone should just lock them on the grid again and, preferably get a famous playwright like... ooh, say Howard Brenton to write it again. :-D

(Do you think if I write into Kudos and ask nicely?)