Spooks (series 3)
The third series of "Spooks" was produced by Kudos Film and Television for the BBC. Much of the production crew from the first two series returned. New crew members were brought in with the requirement that they were fans of the series and have ambition, so that they can understand "Spooks". Andrew Woodhead was the series producer, with Jane Featherstone, Simon Crawford Collins and Gareth Neame as executive producers. Collins, who was the producer for the first two series, had to step back to executive producer, as he was overcommitted producing Kudos crime series "Hustle". Woodhead replaced him as he was accustomed to the show, but also added more vitality to the show. Christopher Aird was the assistant producer. The third series included five writers. Howard Brenton wrote the first, second and eighth episodes. Rupert Walters wrote the third and ninth episodes. Ben Richards wrote the fourth, sixth and tenth episodes. Richards previously wrote the ninth episode of series two, and accepted the offer to return. His script in the second series was his first script for television; he found writing easier as time went by. Raymond Khoury wrote the seventh episode. Series creator David Wolstencroft wrote the fifth episode. Wolstencroft was poised to write the next episode, but found himself committed to other projects.
Spooks (series 3)
Filming began in the middle of winter, which presented problems for the cast and filming crew. Some scenes were delayed because of bad weather, even snow at one point, and as a result scheduling became tighter. Another problem was the cold temperatures. The beginning scene in "Who Guards the Guards?", where Mace and Khordad meet in Hebron, was filmed on a roof garden in below zero temperatures; however, McInnerny and Paul Bhattacharjee wore summer clothes. To prevent hypothermia a heater was placed near them. The cameras used light-coloured filters to make the environment look warmer. However, winter did have an advantage of longer nights, making night scenes easier; summer nights would last as little as five hours. The producers hired real news presenters from Sky News and the programme "London Tonight" to present the news of the events from some episodes. All episodes begin with a recap from past episodes, which the producers regard as "an art in themselves" in terms of editing. The opening title sequence went through three changes over the course of the series. More split screen sequences were also added to create more tension for the audience. Overall, each episode took approximately six weeks to prepare, and would take approximately six weeks to edit.