Spooks – 06 Nov 2007

The first recording today starts with the programme already running – the BBC are so lax at start times.

Good thing it’s a repeat of the previous episode of Spooks seen last week.

Media Centre Description: Drama series about the British Security Service. As an Algerian extremist escapes his home detention, the team fear he may be plotting a terror attack on US businesses in the UK with the help of local Iranians. However, working with the Americans to stop the attack proves a trying task given their recently-deceitful behaviour.

Recorded from BBC ONE on Tuesday 6th November 2007 21:00

BBC Genome: BBC ONE Tuesday 6th November 2007 21:00

After this there’s a trail for a BBC film called Learners starring Jessica Hynes and David Tennant, which looks like just my kind of thing, so I wonder why I didn’t record it.

Then there’s the start of the 10 O’Clock News, leading with the Queen’s Speech.

The other recording today also starts with the programme in progress. I notice that neither of the recordings today have the usual 2 minutes padding, so I was probably recording several other programmes today, but those ones I didn’t archive.

It’s the BBC Three premiere of the next episode of Spooks – Episode 5 of series 6.

Jo has a new fancy man. I’m sure this will be entirely unproblematic.

Adam and Ros are following a Russian mule, Valentino, who’s arrived in Britain to hand over blueprints to nuclear triggers to Iran.

Before the mission, Adam was involved in an attempted mugging. He throws the man against a steel cage during the scuffle and he collapses. Adam makes an anonymous 999 call and leaves.

They discover that the Russians are also tracking the mule, and Adam is captured, then released by them with a warning to stay away from Valentino. “What does it say?” “It’s not exactly polite.” “The gist?” “The gist is back off Valentino, he’s our man, and the rest is…” “Is?” “Siminekee.” “That’s Russian for testicles, isn’t it?”

Jo’s new flame Ben is a journalist, and he’s received pictures of Adam and his mugger.

Ros’s handler from the shadowy Yalta organisation asks her to plant some bugs in the grid. “You’re joking? Malcolm’s wired the grid with every detector known, I’d never get it through pods.” “There’s nothing that will pick up these little gems.” In return, he tells her where Valentino can be found.

Ben meets Jo and shows her the pictures he was sent. He says the man who accosted Adam was a journalist. “I think the Government’s covering their tracks about something, and this man here is on to them. I want to know why he was silenced.”

Adam goes to the Safe house where he’s meeting with Ana, the Iranian Consul’s wife, and Ros is there. She tells him that he should stop seeing Ana, that it’s dangerous. “I was just trying to protect her.” “She’s a big girl, Adam, she doesn’t need protecting, and you’re compromising the operation.”

Harry and Connie bring Valentino in and lean on him to get him to work for them. They let him go, and he goes to pick up his holdall with the secret plans, but they’ve already switched it for a holdall with fake plans.

Ros breaks into Ben’s flat to find out what information he’s been sent. She finds the pictures he already showed to Jo, but he’s also got aerial footage of the Tehran train blast, so Adam’s going to look even more guilty, especially if the journalist doesn’t wake up from his coma.

Which he doesn’t, as Harry tells Adam. He thinks Adam was set up by Ana. He gives him a wodge of cash and tells him to lie low for a while.

Jo talks to Ben. “You know what you’ve done so far? You’ve just removed one of the best officers from his job, you’ve left the security services vulnerable to becoming state- controlled. So if that makes you sleep safer in your bed at night then… well done.”

Sure enough, the grid is visited by people from the Home Office, wanting to know where Adam is.

He’s Headline News.

Ros gives him some information about the journalist’s movements. “We follow him for most of the day, but then we lose him for three hours.” “Where?” “Waterloo Bridge.” Maybe he was going to see something at the BFI Imax.

Adam asks some of the homeless people in the underpass. One of them recognises the journalist, but tells him he’s also a homeless man. Adam brings him to identify the man’s body. “What happened?” Adam says “He fell. It’s definitely your friend?” “No mistake.” “I think he’s been the victim of identity theft.” Adam realises that he’s not a journalist at all, and it’s all a set up, but by whom?

Adam gets chased by police, and he’s helped by journalist Ben, of all people. Looks like he’s had a change of heart.

Valentino has been spooked by a phone call to his family, and hearing them being arrested by the Russian secret police. He goes to a church, keeps doing the sign of the cross the wrong way round, which annoyed me, and when Jo is finally able to get into the church, she finds he’s killed himself.

The fake journalist leads them to CIA chief Hogan, who admits that the nuclear triggers were the Americans’ plans all along. “You saying America’s arming Iran?” “No, we’re selling them blueprints with a deliberate error. A tiny miscalculation that will set their nuclear programme back a decade.”

But with Valentino dead, they need someone to pretend to be him. “Somebody with no identity, no past. Somebody if interrogated would know nothing, say nothing, wouldn’t be missed. And most importantly would disappear again afterwards.” Luckily, Adam recently met someone who fits the bill perfectly – the friend of the man who was set up as the journalist. “I’ve got a coffee and five grand. Which do you want first?” The handover is very tense, but seems to go off smoothly.

Jo and Ben meet up at the book market that’s outside the National Film Theatre, somewhere I used to go regularly.

Adam, against Ros’s strong advice, goes to see Ana in a hotel. Ros gets a tip-off from her Yalta man, and goes to the hotel. She sees Ana’s handler from the Consulate there, so they know she’s there with Adam. Meanwhile, Adam has been drugged and is seeing things.

Ana says he’s had too much champagne and needs water, so she puts in in the bath and starts it filling.

But Ros is on the case, and catches Ana as she’s leaving. She finds the room they were in, pulls Adam out of the bath and revives him. Ana tells her that her husband knew the American plans were faulty, so they made a deal with someone else. “My country just obtained a real firing set. We are now a nuclear power.” Ros closes the bathroom door, fits a silencer and we hear two gunshots. This show is cold.

Media Centre Description: Drama series about the British Security Service.

Recorded from BBC THREE on Tuesday 6th November 2007 22:30

BBC Genome: BBC THREE Tuesday 6th November 2007 22:30

After this there’s a trail for a new series of The Mighty Boosh.

There’s also a trail for Titty Bang Bang 3 and 60 Seconds of news.

There’s also the Chris Moyles Rollercoaster ad.

Then the recording stops with the start of Celebrity Scissorhands.