Spooks (TV series)
Spooks (known as MI-5 in some countries) is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 to 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid. It is notable for various stylistic touches, and its use of popular guest actors. In the United States, the show is broadcast under the title "MI-5". In Canada, the programme originally aired as "MI5" but now airs on BBC Canada as "Spooks".
Spooks (series 1)
The two main writers, Brenton and Wolstencroft, had different styles and influences in their scripts. Wolstencroft was influenced by American television to make the episodes pacier. His chosen writing style was a mixture of the "grittyness" of le Carré's works and James Bond-like fantasies. While writing the series, the writer introduced a set of "MI5 terminology", terms used by the main characters in the series. According to Oyelowo, Wolstencroft's scripts included more spy terms, stating "we curse David Wolstencroft often. His dialogue tends to be the most chewy," and the actors had to learn them as if they spoke as such on a daily basis. Brenton, meanwhile, adopted the same writing style based on early episodes of "Taggart", a Scottish-based crime drama; the writer was impressed by the show's ability to add more to the plot halfway through. He also took inspirations from novels including le Carré's "Tinker, Tailor, soldier, Spy". Mirren wrote "One Last Dance", which he felt was difficult to write as he had to tie two main storylines together. Brenton and Wolstencroft collaborated to write "Lesser of Two Evils" due to timing constraints. Wolstencroft pitched the story, and then each writer wrote 30 pages of dialogue.