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.
Spooks (series 1)
Peter Firth plays the head of the counter-terrorism department, Harry Pearce. Firth was interested in the series after hearing of Brenton's involvement in the project, and thought "Spooks" was "special" and "different" from British television at the time. Firth would "pepper" the dialogue with quotations from famous classical works, with moral and religious philosophies. Jenny Agutter plays Tessa Philips, senior case officer for Section K. The actress described Tessa as "hard edged" and "not a nice person", but straightforward and not initially expected to be corrupt. She realised that although Tessa would start off as a peripheral character, her role would build as the series continued. Tessa's story was described by a BBC press release as being about "the dangers of corruption from within". Lisa Faulkner portrays admin support officer Helen Flynn. Esther Hall plays Tom's girlfriend and restaurant owner Ellie Simm, while Heather Cave plays her eight-year-old daughter, Maisie. Hall felt that Ellie was the character the audience could identify with. The producers created Maisie because they believed that children are often "the best spies of all". Hugh Simon plays technical officer Malcolm Wynn-Jones, and Greame Mearns plays MI5 officer Jed Kelley.