The seventh series of the BBC espionage television series Spooks (known as MI-5 in the United States) began broadcasting on 27 October 2008 on BBC One before ending on 8 December 2008 on the same channel, and consists of eight episodes, two fewer than previous series. It follows the actions of Section D, a counter-terrorism division in MI5. The primary storyline involves Sugarhorse, a top secret operation set up by MI5 during the final years of the Cold War, and a mole working for the FSB who intends to leak the operation to the Russians. Peter Firth, Rupert Penry-Jones, Hermione Norris, Richard Armitage, Miranda Raison, Gemma Jones, Hugh Simon and Alex Lanipekun are credited as the main cast.
Penry-Jones announced his intention to leave the series in December 2007, while it was later announced Armitage would join. Norris and Raison were both asked back after their characters were left open to return at the end of the last series. In developing the series, the producers wanted to repeat the serialised style from series six, and settled on using the resurgence of Russia as the primary storyline as they felt it was, at the time, subtly threatening the security of the West. The producers also participated in several meetings with the writers to discuss the purpose of Sugarhorse. Filming started in London in March 2008, and finished in August 2008 in Moscow, the first time in series history where Spooks was filmed outside the United Kingdom.
The seventh series received healthy ratings, with both BBC One and BBC Three ratings together achieving 6.13 million viewers per episode. The series also attracted critical acclaim, with some reviewers considering it to be the best series of Spooks so far. Both factors allowed the BBC to commission an eighth series of the programme for 2009. The seventh series was released on DVD on 12 October 2009 in the United Kingdom, 30 March 2009 in Australia, and 26 January 2010 in the United States.
Episodes
Cast
The series consists of eight main cast members. Rupert Penry-Jones returned as Adam Carter for the first episode. In December 2007 Penry-Jones announced his intention to leave the series after appearing on the show for four years, because he felt his character had run its course and "getting to the point where I needed to move on," adding he would like to explore other avenues in his career. To keep the series fresh, the producers still wanted Adam's exit to be a shock to the audience. The actor found that his last days on Spooks were generally upsetting and "welled up" on his final day.
In March 2008 the BBC announced that Richard Armitage would join the series as Lucas North. The character was designed by the producers to become a "new heroic figure", and to become much more distant than Adam. Armitage was chosen early in the casting process as the producers believed he could carry the mystery of the character. Armitage was approached by the producers after he finished work on the second series of Robin Hood in which he portrayed the regular part of Sir Guy of Gisbourne. He accepted the role but was initially hesitant to join because of the "tall order" of replacing Penry-Jones. Armitage lost a stone in weight in preparation to keep with the description that Lucas is malnourished in the first episode, but still kept physically fit.
Elsewhere, Hermione Norris returns as Ros Myers. The character was initially written off after the eighth episode of the sixth series due to the actress's pregnancy, however when the seventh series entered pre-production, Norris was asked to return and she accepted. Miranda Raison also returned as Jo Portman. The cliffhanger of the sixth series finale, where Jo was apparently killed, was to leave the audience wondering whether she survived. Raison stated that she realised the producers wanted her to return, as did she. Alex Lanipekun returned as Ben Kaplan, and was upgraded to a series regular. Lanipekun believed that the seventh series was "kind of for Ben," adding that there was an episode that would see his coming of age by dealing with his first undercover operation and the burden of getting close to someone who is involved with the group he was sent to stop. Peter Firth, Gemma Jones and Hugh Simon returned as Harry Pearce, Connie James and Malcolm Wynn-Jones, respectively.