One of the best British drama series of the last decade came to an end last month with a 6 episode arc that brought Harry (Peter Firth) and Ruth (Nicola Walker) to the fore alongside a tale of cold war espionage and divided loyalties.
I can't believe it's all over - the consistently awesome Spooks is no more. What an ending though! New characters Erin (Lara Pulver) and Callum (Geoffrey Streatfeild) barely made an impression, and hot returning spies Dimitri (Max Brown) and the unfortunate Tariq (Shazad Latif) didn't fair much better, but that was by-the-by as the real emotional meat of the series was carried by Harry and Ruth, whose long-running, steadily simmering relationship reached an inevitably tragic resolution. Firth and Walker are the real champions of Spooks, investing so much warmth into characters who could have been all too cold - they crack jokes in moments of crisis, they feel the hard decisions deep inside, but they keep giving and spying for their country because they know of nothing else to do. The central Russian spy thread this series provided multiple twists, turns and double crosses, and was never less than gripping. It was good to see Jonathan Hyde, of Jumanji, Titanic and Richie Rich fame, back on the screen, his Russian cuckold quietly brilliant up against cold Elena (Alice Krige) and fiery Sasha (Tom Weston-Jones, who will forever be the man who kept Harry and Ruth from finding happiness). Simon Russell Beale's Home Secretary brought a pleasingly light-hearted approach to the role, anchoring some of Spooks' more serious tendencies. Alongside the over-arching story were the usual tales of terrorism and hi-tech espionage, slickly produced, with great London location work and imaginative story twists that kept me guessing all through. A fitting finale to an accomplished series.
but...
Some minor character issues aside (I would rather have had Sophia Myles' Beth return than have to muster up interest in Erin), the main downside of Series 10 is the brevity of the 6 episode season and the fact its the final one.
briefly...
Smart, slick, sexy, Spooks. There's not been anything to match the thrills and spills since it began.
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