John Le Carre for the internet generation, Spooks is a smart combination of TV cop show and George Smiley-esque espionage shenanigans that pulls no punches in its depiction of an MI5 team fighting a covert war on the streets of London. This is adult, post-watershed drama clearly inspired by the hard-hitting reality style of US shows such as 24 and The Sopranos. The strong ensemble cast is led by charismatic Matthew MacFadyen as Tom Quinn, star spy of "Section B", the counter-terrorism branch headed by Harry Pearce (Peter Firth). Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo and tough-cookie Jenny Agutter make up the team. And as with its British predecessors, Cracker and Prime Suspect, Spooks also delves fearlessly into the characters' turbulent personal lives, here given an added twist by their constant need to deceive even those they love.

The six episodes of the BAFTA Award-winning Series 1 tackle a variety of tough issues, including religious fanaticism, racism, governmental cover-ups and, naturally enough, the lingering shadow of Irish terrorism. Throughout, the show strikes a fine balance between a James Bondian techno-obsession with spy gadgets and more character-based action, with crisp writing and pacey direction that ratchets up the tension a notch further with every episode. The final cliffhanger is an unforgettable TV moment, and one that leaves viewers agog for Series 2.

On the DVD: Spooks, Series 1 is cleverly presented in a three-disc set with specially filmed "cut scenes" instead of a standard menu: interact with the mysterious office intruder to select the different options: interviews, behind-the-scenes documentaries, deleted scenes, character profiles, audio commentaries and more. It's a neat idea, though one that may outstay its welcome after repeated viewings; fortunately it's possible to skip the opening sequence using the chapter forward button and move directly to the main "desk menu". --Mark Walker

This type of show does not come along often enough. Well written, superbly acted, fast paced, compelling and thought provoking. You are hooked after the first 5 minutes. It was late and my husband and I made the mistake of thinking we would only watch about 20 minutes of an episode. We were riveted to our chairs for the entire hour. I'm not even sure we blinked. To those having trouble hearing it, on the "Desktop" at the beginning, use your up, down, left or right remote keys and navigate over to the phone and hit Play. It will give you an option of stereo (2) or monaural (I think, the computer voice is hard to understand) (5). We found it easier to understand on (2) stereo. Then pick the episode you want to watch. Bottom line: This is a great show. Don't miss it!
Oh, just a bit of advice, buy Season 2 at the same time you buy Season 1. The cliffhanger at the end of Season 1 will make you crazy if you have to wait for Season 2 to arrive.

So, after 30 minutes, I STILL cannot see how to navigate this DVD. I don't even know if I have the right disk in as none of the three DVDs are identified.

Having spoken to Contender Entertainment and been met with "It's an intelligence test to see if you're clever enough to join MI5" it appears I have not reached the required standard, My PhD, and two lower degrees clearly indicating my moronic level of intelligence.

I chose to watch this series as a piece of simplistic, mindless entertainment, which is, after all, the level of the TV series and most of the BBC's output these days. I did not choose to nor will I, jump through puerile, geek-like, gimmicky hoops.

Contender Entertainment group can have it back and I'll have a refund.

SO I can't really review the series owing to the fact that I never actually found the start of episode 1.


Having passed the MI5 induction course, I have now been able to watch the first series and have to say that I found it immensely enjoyable, especially so with the devine Esther Hall in evidence, and have eventually worked my way through series 1 to 5, avidly awaiting the release of series 6.

For those of us who are not geeks fascinated by clever technology the absence of any guidance on how to access the contents of the discs or finding out what these contents are, the packaging is deeply frustrating. The information not provided with the discs is also a disappointmentm however good the material is.

Ever wondered what MI5 really do? Well this is your chance to find out! Spooks is a new series which charts how MI5 and the Spooks in its employ deal with the everyday threats against Britain. In season one we're introduced to Harry, Tom, Danny & Zoe and get to see them in action as they face extremist anti-abortionists, race-riot ringleaders and Kurdish freedom fighters....to name but a few. Spooks has the suspense, intrigue and backstabbing that we would expect from an agency of spies and it all works together to hook you from episode one straight through to the end.

My biggest gripe about Season 1 of Spooks is that it's just too short. You're only getting into the swing of it when it ends and you wish you'd ordered season 2 at the same time as season 1!

Having caught only a few episodes on TV the first time round, I was pleased to have the opportunity to catch up with what I'd missed. The stories are cleverly put together, with plenty of surprises, and enough personal background on the main characters to make you feel that you cae what happens to them next.

The introductory menu is clever, but gets a little wearing after watching a few episodes, and I was very disappointed that there are no subtitles on these DVD's at all. At times the action and dialogue are very fast and it is frustrating to miss bits of dialogue due to lack of subtitling - I am fairly sure the BBC had subtitles when it was originally broadcast!