MI-5 (TV Series) The Special: Part 2 (2005) User Reviews

The Special: Part 2

[Prismark10 · 8/10 · 21 March 2020]

Part 2 of the series 4 opener starts out tense as Adam rushes in to rescue Zafar.

Although another bomb is due to go off. Harry tells the Home Secretary about a mistake he had made in the past and wishes to resign.

MI5 also thinks that there is a mole somewhere. Juliet Shaw is the main suspect but she unearths someone else.

Tash (Martine McCutcheon) might had been an ordinary coffee bar waitress but she finds herself in all kinds of peril.

An exciting conclusion, it does look epic with danger and various betrayals. Adam and Zafar seem to make a good team. Ruth Evershed is also now coming to the forefront. She adds a more cerebral touch.

A thriller

[keysam-02610 · 9/10 · 10 February 2024]

I really enjoyed this episode - or pair of episodes to be exact. They were an excellent way to kick off a new series of Spooks. Also, apart from a couple of poor drivers (who might just as well have been wearing red jerseys), the good guys basically came out on top.

However.

I do rather agree with the reviewer who suggests that Spooks of old wouldn't have been quite so upbeat. It did feel slightly more like a traditional thriller movie, where by and large good triumphs over evil.

Martine McCutcheon is a fun character - I particularly like her answering Harry back when he gives her the 'be grateful' chat and that she's quick thinking enough to make use of the smart jacket when she's being dragged out of Thames House.

But it's basically stunt casting, of someone who was having a 'moment' at the time but who rather sticks out in 2024 as a bit misplaced. And I also think it's one reason for her character being saved in the nick of time, rather than sacrificed as I do agree Spooks series 1 might have done.

It's a question of tone and frankly if changing the tone to be a bit less dour meant that Spooks kept going for longer, I don't really mind. Nonetheless, though this is a fun start to series 4, it is just that little bit more run of the mill than the early stories were.

The Special - Parts 1 + 2

[IanIndependent · 7/10 · 27 July 2021]

Undoubtedly, 'Spooks' was at its best for the first two series. Not only was there a freshness to the narratives detailing the process of foiling subversion but, each week, brought into focus the character and personal lives of the people battling against the nations enemies.

In this way we came to know the strengths and weaknesses, and understand the foibles of Tom (Matthew MacFadyen), Zoe (Keeley Hawes), Tessa (Jenny Agutter) and Danny (David Oyelowo). All these were real believable people with there own problems. They were also all superbly played by actors who have gone on to be bigger names than they were at the time.

However, one by one they departed until by series 4 all the above had left and with them it seemed went most of the intimacy we felt for individual Spooks. There was an attempt to bring in a husband and wife team which worked ok but wasn't the essential viewing that the relationship between Danny and Zoe had provided.

By this series it seemed that the producers had decided to sacrifice the character detail for a more all action, thrills and spills, style show that appealed to the new international buyers of the episodes. Not a good move in that what had made 'Spooks' different from the rest was it's views into the everyday lives of the operatives.

However, this two part, two hour, opening to the fourth season I have to admit was was exciting, gripping and obviously big budget. It was, in fact, probably. Better than the majority of the episodes in Series 3. If you do like your drama to be nail biting and filled with edge of the seat action then this is for you.

'The Special' It is as good as many of the big movie American films of the same genre. Unfortunately, it also had the same propensity to be a bit slapdash in its plausibility and a big hackneyed in it's telling.

Wow! It wasn't one of The British Spooks who was the traitor it was the American none of us liked anyway. Blimey! There's a bomb set to go off and it get stopped with a password with just 2 seconds to go! Wham! The sozzled, opinionated, old, academic is left to wrangle that password from the bomber! He does so just in time but why are the specially trained agents in Britian and America leaving it to a man like that.

To be honest, in the first two series, I think the makers would have at least left Tash (Martine McCutcheon) to be blown up. A much sadder ending that may of alienated many of 'Spooks' new audience but in reality it was what most likely would have happened.

Most of the edge of the seats viewers will have thought all this fantastic and again I will have to admit that I was gripped by the action that thankfully had a great script and the basis of a meaningful story. It was just that compared to early 'Spooks' it seemed a little bit empty.

Possible poster episode(s)?

[jwikstro · 10/10 · 13 June 2013]

Having viewed all ten series and being bold enough to admit it, I would have to say that this two-part "Special" might capture the best that the program has to offer. Without listing all those categories covered, it would suffice to say that this two-part installment benefits from an excellent script, wit, excellent acting with inspired and realistic characterizations, clever and insightful references to real events and people (Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Jamie Oliver a la his lamb slaughtering, 1984 IRA attempt on Thatcher, etc.) as well as the healthy smattering of academia/classics via Professor Curtis and his awakening through Ruth, and so on. I suppose I just bought it all, but nevertheless it is very well done. The complexity of characters which on the surface seem one-dimensional, then evolve otherwise, is also pointed in this episode. Malcolm, Colin and Tash and their interaction is also charming, while Anna Chancellor plays her character's type well in its incipience. Adam and Zaf are also convincing in their banter.