Spooks (series 1)
Kudos Film and Television developed "Spooks" after releasing Channel 4 medical drama "Psychos" in 1999, though the company initially faced friction from television networks which saw no potential in a post-Cold War spy show. The producers later successfully pitched the series to the BBC after the networks' commissioning teams were replaced. Four episodes were being written when the September 11 attacks took place, and the some scenes were rewritten to take the event into account to show the audience "Spooks's" goal of fighting terrorism. Throughout production, the producers were advised by former intelligence officers from the Security Service, KGB and Central Intelligence Agency. Filming took place from November 2001 to March 2002.
Smoke and Mirrors (Spooks)
Writer Howard Brenton found writing the end difficult because the producers knew Matthew Macfadyen would leave the series, but not whether he'd return in the beginning of the third series. He stated that the producers "didn't know whether Matthew was going to return to the series or not. We knew there'd be a third series, but we didn't know whether he'd be in it. So I said 'well, is he going to be in it, or isn't he'. And for some times it was, 'oh he's not going to be', so I kill him. And then he said he is gonna be in it, so I unkill him." Because of this, Brenton wrote twelve drafts of the episode. In the end, he wrote a "big cliffhanger, in which he could be dead, could be gone forever, or what." The character Herman Joyce was created by Brenton to become a worthy opponent to Tom. Joyce's creation was inspired from the "great criminal minds" such as Karla from John le Carré and Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes. Brenton thought the addition of Joyce would be a fitting end, so that if Tom was defeated, it would be by a master who would later be undone in some way with or without him.