Series 8, Episode 8 (Spooks)
Encyclopedia
The series eight finale of the British
espionage
television series Spooks
was originally broadcast on BBC One
on 23 December 2009, and is the 72nd episode in the overall series. The episode was written by Ben Richards
and directed by Alrick Riley. The episode continues the "Nightingale" story-arc, a shadow organisation bent on changing the geopolitical
map. In the finale, Nightingale attempt to provoke a nuclear war
between India
and Pakistan
, and Section D have a week to prevent it.
The episode was based on actual reports of conflict
between the two nations. Hermione Norris
made her final appearance as Ros Myers
; the producers intended to leave her fate open in order for the audience to debate whether or not she survived the hotel explosion at the end of the episode. It was viewed by under six million viewers after its original broadcast, and received overwhelmingly positive reviews, particularly due to the reveal of Nightingale's plot and the cliffhanger, questioning whether or not Ros survived the hotel explosion.
map. Referred to as "Nightingale", actor Richard Armitage
has said that "India
, Pakistan
and China
feature heavily. But everyone, including Russia
, America
and Britain have a finger in the pie." In the sixth episode it is revealed that CIA
liaison and Lucas North
's (Armitage) lover Sarah Caufield (Genevieve O'Reilly
) is part of the organisation, and flees when Lucas confronts her. In the previous episode, Section D discover that Nightingale is manipulating Hindu
s and Muslim
s to attack each other in an attempt to further tarnish relations between India and Pakistan; Section D is able to prevent the attacks in the UK, but it is later revealed that Nightingale succeeded in setting up similar attacks throughout the rest of Europe
and the United States
.
by the Pakistan Navy
. Knowing it is a Nightingale plot – Pakistani General Azim Ali is a member – Section D learn they have a week to stop a nuclear war
between India and Pakistan. News of this shocks the team, particularly Tariq Masood
(Shazad Latif
), who has family in Lahore
. Ruth Evershed
(Nicola Walker
) discovers the name of a prominent Nightingale operative, Hans Lindemann. While Lucas North and Ros Myers work to bug Lindemann's office, Sarah Caufield returns, having been ordered by CIA Head of European Operations Russell Price (Mark Aiken), also a Nightingale member, to kill Lucas. Instead, Sarah warns him to leave the country before escaping.
Ruth meets a Chinese contact, Heng (Roger Yuan
), who tells her that both countries will fail the negotiations and that war is inevitable. He is shot dead by an assassin in front of her. Tariq finds Sarah staying at a hotel under an assumed name. Lucas and Ros apprehend her after Lucas distracts her and Ros shoots her in the leg. At a hospital, Sarah reveals to Lucas that Nightingale wants India and Pakistan to go to war in order to "contain" the future, where Nightingale believes the Taliban will take over Pakistan and gain control of nuclear weapon
s, though the war will kill several million innocent lives in the process. As Lucas leaves the room momentarily to call Ros, an assassin kills Sarah; Lucas captures him and learns that Price arranged the hit.
To prevent negotiations from succeeding, Price rigs the Summit hotel with explosives. To prevent Pakistani President Mudasser (Nicholas Khan) and Home Secretary Andrew Lawrence
(Tobias Menzies
) from escaping, he paralyses both of them. Learning Price is in the hotel, Lucas and Ros arrive and capture him. Since disarming the bomb is impossible, Ros threatens to leave Price behind when the bomb explodes unless he divulges the room both politicians are held. Although Price eventually discloses the room number, Ros leaves him in the room where the bomb is anyway. Lucas is able to carry Mudasser safely out of the hotel, where he recovers and orders the release of the Indian submarine, preventing the war. However, Ros is still in the hotel, struggling to pull Lawrence to safety. As Lucas runs back to aid her, the hotel explodes, killing Lawrence, Price and Ros.
The episode was written by Ben Richards
. The general plot of India and Pakistan on the verge of nuclear war is based on actual reports of conflict
between the two nations. The beginning was not originally in the script; Richards wanted to feature a submarine crisis, but the producers were not sure what the crisis would be. They eventually decided to have an Indian submarine "taken hostage" by the Pakistanis. They wanted to add a personal stake towards Tariq, by revealing that members of his family live in Pakistan. The intent was to include and develop a potential relationship between Ros and Lawrence to the point where they bond during their final scenes before the hotel explosion. They also wanted to touch up on the Harry/Ruth relationship, which was not in the original script; so Ben Richards added the scenes as additional dialogue.
Despite the seriousness of the episode, Richards included some wit and humour. For instance, the scene where Lucas bugs Lindemann's office and "small talks" Ros; the producers wanted the scene to be different from similar scenes from movies involving secret agents planting bugs in offices and homes. The producers also wanted to have Ruth return her confidence in her work, back to how she was before her departure. The finale also includes Lucas being confused over Sarah. The writing team wanted him to despise her as a villain, but at the same time, still maintain feelings for her. Following her death, they did not want Lucas to be calm and calculating when confronting the assassin, but instead make him "lose it" and then have him broken afterward.
. The rest of the finale was filmed several weeks later. The inside of a surveillance van used in a few scenes were shot at a set right next to the Grid set; using a set would be more manageable for the filming crew. A military school in Belgravia
was used to film two separate locations; the Home Office
and Lindemann's office. Other scenes at the Home Office were filmed in a separate building in Roehampton
.
The hospital Sarah was held was filmed at a new private hospital in Hammersmith
that was closed down at the time. A Radisson Edwardian Hotel
in the London Docklands served as the filming location for the Summit Hotel; the management of the hotel were cooperative and allowed the filming crew access to several rooms and facilities. The scene where Ruth meets Heng was filmed at Dollis Hill
; it was the last scene of the episode to be shot, and was completed in one afternoon. In the fight scene between Ros and Sarah at Lindemann's office, Hermione Norris played herself, and a stunt double stood in for Genevieve O'Reilly, because her character was getting "thrown about a lot". The fight scene between Lucas and Sarah's assassin were performed by Armitage and stunt coordinator Crispin Layfield respectively.
The scene where the Pakistanis take control of the Indian submarine were archival footage taken from the BBC Motion Gallery
. Split screen sequences were placed towards the end more than the rest of the episode to show the audience there is a bomb at the hotel with several police officers outside the building and Lucas and Ros looking around the hotel for Lawrence and Mudasser. The sequence where the hotel exploded was made through the medium of visual effects
, produced by Darkside Animation.
at 9pm on 23 December 2009, and later repeated on BBC Three
at 12:45am on 24 December. After its original broadcast, the series finale drew 5.5 million viewers, earning the series a 23% audience share during its time slot. It won the time slot against BBC Two
's Grumpy Guide to Christmas, ITV1
's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
, and Channel 4
's The Family
. According to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, the episode received final viewing figures of 5.91 million, placing Spooks the 25th most seen programme on BBC One, and the 36th most seen programme overall during the week it aired.
Reviews of the episode were very positive. In a preview for the episode, Vicky Power of The Daily Telegraph
said that "as usual there's a large body count and fist-fights, but these are tempered by scenes of high emotion", and if the episode were Ros' last, "it is a fitting send-off". David Chater of The Times
was positive towards the episode, stating "just in case you think you're having an exhausting time in the run-up to Christmas, spare a thought for Lucas North [who found out] his lover is a liar, a murderer and a traitor", and also noted that "the great thing about Spooks is that they will always stop and explain how serious things are".
The Guardian
published two separate reviews for the episode. Sam Wollaston started by saying "they never listen", noting the "prisoner either disappears or is killed" and that Section D "need to rethink the whole prisoner thing, or hire less rubbish guards"; however, Wollaston also noted that since it was Sarah who was killed, "mo one's really going to miss snaky Sarah much". Plot-wise, Wollaston liked the phrase "getting pretty Finding Nemo
about it", and said that Ros "better had" survived the cliffhanger, claiming "Spooks without Ros would be like Christmas
without presents". Vicky Frost called the episode a "cracking finale", stating that after "weeks of build-up, it feels almost a relief to have the Nightingale plot finally revealed". In regards to the cliffhanger, Frost commented that Spooks has "passed its peak but not sunk so low as to be embarrassing, it still goes out on something of a high, and it's remembered as a decent example of its type". She was also receptive of Norris' portrayal as Ros in her likely final appearance, but felt the Harry and Ruth relationship was "wolly".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
television series Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
was originally broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 23 December 2009, and is the 72nd episode in the overall series. The episode was written by Ben Richards
Ben Richards (writer)
Ben Richards is an English writer, born in 1964. Before writing novels and TV dramas, he worked for three years as a housing officer in Newham and Islington, London...
and directed by Alrick Riley. The episode continues the "Nightingale" story-arc, a shadow organisation bent on changing the geopolitical
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
map. In the finale, Nightingale attempt to provoke a nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
between India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and Section D have a week to prevent it.
The episode was based on actual reports of conflict
Indo-Pakistani relations
Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained by a number of historical and political issues, and are defined by the violent partition of British India in 1947, the Kashmir dispute and the numerous military conflicts fought between the two nations...
between the two nations. Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris is an English actress.Norris attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet...
made her final appearance as Ros Myers
Ros Myers
Rosalind "Ros" Sarah Myers was a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks, which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division in MI5. She is portrayed by British actress Hermione Norris. The character was a former MI6 officer who works with MI5 in the...
; the producers intended to leave her fate open in order for the audience to debate whether or not she survived the hotel explosion at the end of the episode. It was viewed by under six million viewers after its original broadcast, and received overwhelmingly positive reviews, particularly due to the reveal of Nightingale's plot and the cliffhanger, questioning whether or not Ros survived the hotel explosion.
Background
The finale continues the story-arc involving a multinational shadow organisation bent on changing the geopoliticalGeopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
map. Referred to as "Nightingale", actor Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage (actor)
Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
has said that "India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
feature heavily. But everyone, including Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Britain have a finger in the pie." In the sixth episode it is revealed that CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
liaison and Lucas North
Lucas North
Lucas North, formerly known as John Bateman, is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks , which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division of MI5. North is portrayed by British actor Richard Armitage...
's (Armitage) lover Sarah Caufield (Genevieve O'Reilly
Genevieve O'Reilly
Genevieve O'Reilly is an Irish actress who has worked in both the United Kingdom and Australia.-Background:O'Reilly was born in Dublin and raised in Adelaide. She is the eldest of four siblings. At the age of twenty O'Reilly moved to Sydney to attend the National Institute of Dramatic Art,...
) is part of the organisation, and flees when Lucas confronts her. In the previous episode, Section D discover that Nightingale is manipulating Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s to attack each other in an attempt to further tarnish relations between India and Pakistan; Section D is able to prevent the attacks in the UK, but it is later revealed that Nightingale succeeded in setting up similar attacks throughout the rest of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Plot
An Indian submarine is forced into port at KarachiKarachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
by the Pakistan Navy
Pakistan Navy
The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare/service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan's Navy is responsible for Pakistan's coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important civilian harbors and military bases...
. Knowing it is a Nightingale plot – Pakistani General Azim Ali is a member – Section D learn they have a week to stop a nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
between India and Pakistan. News of this shocks the team, particularly Tariq Masood
Tariq Masood
Tariq Masood was a character from the BBC television series Spooks, played by Shazad Latif. Masood was the technical wizard who replaced Malcolm Wynn-Jones in Series 8...
(Shazad Latif
Shazad Latif
Shazad Latif, is a British actor, who starred in the BBC TV series Spooks as the highly skilled technician and data analyst for Section D, Tariq Masood from series 8 to his death in series 10.-Early life:...
), who has family in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. Ruth Evershed
Ruth Evershed
Ruth Evershed was a fictional Senior Intelligence Analyst seconded from GCHQ to MI5, featured in the British Television Series Spooks, also known as MI-5 in the United States. Ruth was played by Nicola Walker from the time the character joined the show in 2003, until Walker left to have a baby in...
(Nicola Walker
Nicola Walker
Nicola Walker is an English actress, best known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, particularly as Ruth Evershed in the spy drama Spooks. She has also worked in theatre, radio and film....
) discovers the name of a prominent Nightingale operative, Hans Lindemann. While Lucas North and Ros Myers work to bug Lindemann's office, Sarah Caufield returns, having been ordered by CIA Head of European Operations Russell Price (Mark Aiken), also a Nightingale member, to kill Lucas. Instead, Sarah warns him to leave the country before escaping.
Ruth meets a Chinese contact, Heng (Roger Yuan
Roger Yuan
Roger Yuan is a Los Angeles-born actor, martial artist, stunt man and fight choreographer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California Los Angeles. Yuan is a black belt in Chun Kuk Do...
), who tells her that both countries will fail the negotiations and that war is inevitable. He is shot dead by an assassin in front of her. Tariq finds Sarah staying at a hotel under an assumed name. Lucas and Ros apprehend her after Lucas distracts her and Ros shoots her in the leg. At a hospital, Sarah reveals to Lucas that Nightingale wants India and Pakistan to go to war in order to "contain" the future, where Nightingale believes the Taliban will take over Pakistan and gain control of nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s, though the war will kill several million innocent lives in the process. As Lucas leaves the room momentarily to call Ros, an assassin kills Sarah; Lucas captures him and learns that Price arranged the hit.
To prevent negotiations from succeeding, Price rigs the Summit hotel with explosives. To prevent Pakistani President Mudasser (Nicholas Khan) and Home Secretary Andrew Lawrence
Andrew Lawrence (Spooks)
Andrew Lawrence MP is a Home Secretary in the BBC television drama Spooks. He was appointed during the events of Series 8, Episode 7 after the resignation of his predecessor Nicholas Blake who was implicated in a faked scandal by covert organization Nightingale.-Series 8:Lawrence is a young...
(Tobias Menzies
Tobias Menzies
Tobias Menzies is an English stage, television, and film actor, best known for his role as Brutus in the 2005/2007 TV series Rome.-Early years:...
) from escaping, he paralyses both of them. Learning Price is in the hotel, Lucas and Ros arrive and capture him. Since disarming the bomb is impossible, Ros threatens to leave Price behind when the bomb explodes unless he divulges the room both politicians are held. Although Price eventually discloses the room number, Ros leaves him in the room where the bomb is anyway. Lucas is able to carry Mudasser safely out of the hotel, where he recovers and orders the release of the Indian submarine, preventing the war. However, Ros is still in the hotel, struggling to pull Lawrence to safety. As Lucas runs back to aid her, the hotel explodes, killing Lawrence, Price and Ros.
Writing and pre-production
Before the episode aired there was speculation that Hermione Norris will leave the series following the "explosive finale explosive cliffhanger." When questioned whether she will leave the series, Norris would not comment. In June 2010, co-star Richard Armitage confirmed that Norris has left the series, meaning the series eight finale was her final episode as Ros. The producers left the episode end with a cliffhanger to have the audience debate whether or not Ros and Lawrence survived the hotel explosion. Casting an actor as Russell Price was initially a problem for the producers, but they decided to cast Mark Aiken for the role following his work in American television. An actual news reporter was cast to record a news story. The reporter runs the dialogue with the producers at 4:30 in the morning, and then record the story before 6am, the time reporters start their work on actual news stories.The episode was written by Ben Richards
Ben Richards (writer)
Ben Richards is an English writer, born in 1964. Before writing novels and TV dramas, he worked for three years as a housing officer in Newham and Islington, London...
. The general plot of India and Pakistan on the verge of nuclear war is based on actual reports of conflict
Indo-Pakistani relations
Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained by a number of historical and political issues, and are defined by the violent partition of British India in 1947, the Kashmir dispute and the numerous military conflicts fought between the two nations...
between the two nations. The beginning was not originally in the script; Richards wanted to feature a submarine crisis, but the producers were not sure what the crisis would be. They eventually decided to have an Indian submarine "taken hostage" by the Pakistanis. They wanted to add a personal stake towards Tariq, by revealing that members of his family live in Pakistan. The intent was to include and develop a potential relationship between Ros and Lawrence to the point where they bond during their final scenes before the hotel explosion. They also wanted to touch up on the Harry/Ruth relationship, which was not in the original script; so Ben Richards added the scenes as additional dialogue.
Despite the seriousness of the episode, Richards included some wit and humour. For instance, the scene where Lucas bugs Lindemann's office and "small talks" Ros; the producers wanted the scene to be different from similar scenes from movies involving secret agents planting bugs in offices and homes. The producers also wanted to have Ruth return her confidence in her work, back to how she was before her departure. The finale also includes Lucas being confused over Sarah. The writing team wanted him to despise her as a villain, but at the same time, still maintain feelings for her. Following her death, they did not want Lucas to be calm and calculating when confronting the assassin, but instead make him "lose it" and then have him broken afterward.
Filming
A scene in the pre-title sequence was filmed during the same block as episodes three and four, which were directed by Sam MillerSam Miller
Sam Miller is an English television director. He is best known for his work on the BBC television dramas Cardiac Arrest and This Life. -Filmography:-Actor - Filmography:...
. The rest of the finale was filmed several weeks later. The inside of a surveillance van used in a few scenes were shot at a set right next to the Grid set; using a set would be more manageable for the filming crew. A military school in Belgravia
Belgravia
Belgravia is a district of central London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Noted for its immensely expensive residential properties, it is one of the wealthiest districts in the world...
was used to film two separate locations; the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
and Lindemann's office. Other scenes at the Home Office were filmed in a separate building in Roehampton
Roehampton
Roehampton is a district in south-west London, forming the western end of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between the town of Barnes to the north, Putney to the east and Wimbledon Common to the south. The Richmond Park golf courses are west of the neighbourhood, and just south of these is...
.
The hospital Sarah was held was filmed at a new private hospital in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
that was closed down at the time. A Radisson Edwardian Hotel
Radisson Hotels
Radisson Hotels is one of the leading, full-service global hotel companies with more than 420 locations in 73 countries. The first Radisson Hotel was built in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1909, and was named after the 17th-century French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson...
in the London Docklands served as the filming location for the Summit Hotel; the management of the hotel were cooperative and allowed the filming crew access to several rooms and facilities. The scene where Ruth meets Heng was filmed at Dollis Hill
Dollis Hill
Dollis Hill is an area of north-west London. It lies close to Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent. As a result, Dollis Hill is sometimes referred as being part of Willesden, especially by the national press...
; it was the last scene of the episode to be shot, and was completed in one afternoon. In the fight scene between Ros and Sarah at Lindemann's office, Hermione Norris played herself, and a stunt double stood in for Genevieve O'Reilly, because her character was getting "thrown about a lot". The fight scene between Lucas and Sarah's assassin were performed by Armitage and stunt coordinator Crispin Layfield respectively.
The scene where the Pakistanis take control of the Indian submarine were archival footage taken from the BBC Motion Gallery
BBC Motion Gallery
BBC Motion Gallery is the footage licensing division of BBC Worldwide, offering media professionals in advertising, commercials, television, film, interactive and corporate video production access to over a million hours of motion imagery for licensing worldwide.-History:The organization originated...
. Split screen sequences were placed towards the end more than the rest of the episode to show the audience there is a bomb at the hotel with several police officers outside the building and Lucas and Ros looking around the hotel for Lawrence and Mudasser. The sequence where the hotel exploded was made through the medium of visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
, produced by Darkside Animation.
Broadcast and reception
The episode originally aired on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
at 9pm on 23 December 2009, and later repeated on BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
at 12:45am on 24 December. After its original broadcast, the series finale drew 5.5 million viewers, earning the series a 23% audience share during its time slot. It won the time slot against BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's Grumpy Guide to Christmas, ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film)
# Will Young - "Your Love Is King"# Jamelia - "Stop"# Kylie Minogue - "Can't Get You Out of My Head"# Joss Stone - "Super Duper Love Pt. 1"# Mary J...
, and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's The Family
The Family (2008 UK TV series)
The Family is a British fly-on-the-wall documentary series that began airing 17 September 2008 on Channel 4. It follows a chosen Family, consisting of parents and their children. The project aim was to gain a picture of everyday family life in the United Kingdom, as film-maker and director Jonathan...
. According to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, the episode received final viewing figures of 5.91 million, placing Spooks the 25th most seen programme on BBC One, and the 36th most seen programme overall during the week it aired.
Reviews of the episode were very positive. In a preview for the episode, Vicky Power of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
said that "as usual there's a large body count and fist-fights, but these are tempered by scenes of high emotion", and if the episode were Ros' last, "it is a fitting send-off". David Chater of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
was positive towards the episode, stating "just in case you think you're having an exhausting time in the run-up to Christmas, spare a thought for Lucas North [who found out] his lover is a liar, a murderer and a traitor", and also noted that "the great thing about Spooks is that they will always stop and explain how serious things are".
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
published two separate reviews for the episode. Sam Wollaston started by saying "they never listen", noting the "prisoner either disappears or is killed" and that Section D "need to rethink the whole prisoner thing, or hire less rubbish guards"; however, Wollaston also noted that since it was Sarah who was killed, "mo one's really going to miss snaky Sarah much". Plot-wise, Wollaston liked the phrase "getting pretty Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...
about it", and said that Ros "better had" survived the cliffhanger, claiming "Spooks without Ros would be like Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
without presents". Vicky Frost called the episode a "cracking finale", stating that after "weeks of build-up, it feels almost a relief to have the Nightingale plot finally revealed". In regards to the cliffhanger, Frost commented that Spooks has "passed its peak but not sunk so low as to be embarrassing, it still goes out on something of a high, and it's remembered as a decent example of its type". She was also receptive of Norris' portrayal as Ros in her likely final appearance, but felt the Harry and Ruth relationship was "wolly".
External links
- Series 8, Episode 8 at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Episode 8 at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...