Evolution of Spooks.

[A Cousin]

There have been two shifts for me.

The first was in S3 with the big cast changes that series. I actually really liked how they handled all of those. I underestimate S3, I think. Another reason for that shift was the Andrew Woodhead took over as Producer. His vision for the series is a bit different than what came before. However, for me, it primarily remained suspense based.

The next shift for came in S6. Andrew Woodhead was still Producer, but it felt like they decided to make the series slicker, less suspenseful and more action-based. If memory serves, S6 was when they changed the film stock they were using, which lent itself to that slicker and more action based mood. The camera work changed as well. It felt to me that they started using a lot more hand-held and less stationary and/or tracking shots. I am not a huge fan of this particular shift in either respect, but by the time they got to S7, it worked very well for me.

There was shift in S9 for me as well - due to new Producer and writers - but since there are those who have not seen it I will stop there. While it was not altogether successful for me - better than S6 though - I "get" what they were trying to do and like the idea of returning to a more suspense based mood; e.g. fewer explosions, more espionage. I hope S10 follows through on that idea.