When the spy shows were the rage on television, I found myself not really liking any of them. Alias never did anything for me, and after the third season of 24 I couldn’t stand the character of Jack Bauer always being right, always knowing exactly what to do, etc.  With trepidation, I viewed the British series MI-5 after a recommendation from a friend.

The short version of this review is WOW! You need to see this series.

MI-5 was originally called Spooks in the U.K.  The name MI-5 denotes the British Intelligence Agency for which our core cast works.  This first season, the central focus seems to be Tom Quinn (portrayed by Matthew Macfayden), who’s trying to lead a double life with a girlfriend, Ellie (portrayed by Esther Hawes), who has a young daughter, Maisie.  They know him by the name Matthew.

Although there is plenty of action and intrigue, MI-5 gets more into the psychology of what it’s like to be an intelligence agent.  The dysfunction of the agents personal lives is apparent all the way through the series as they struggle with the boundaries set before them.  In this first season, it’s Tom Quinn who mainly struggles, but those who are in his supporting cast are those to keep an eye on for hints of what’s to come in the future.

Zoe Reynolds (portrayed by Keeley Hawes) is second to Tom in his unit.  I had a hard time with her character and I’m not quite sure why.  At times I didn’t feel she was convincing as being a strong agent and as competent as she is supposed to be.  Still, she is a strong female character that isn’t dependent on a man in any way,and I like that a lot.

Danny Hunter (portrayed by David Oyelowo) is the third person who works directly with Tom.  He is a good agent, but has a problem balancing his real life versus the illusion he creates as an agent and winds up with debt issues early on in this first season.  I liked the character a lot as he wasn’t nearly perfect, but I also wondered how long his behavior would be tolerated in the real world.  Due to the money problems, he and Zoe co-habitate, but it’s strictly for economical reasons.

The head of MI-5 is Harry Pearce (portrayed by Peter Firth).  He isn’t a one-dimensional character who just comes in to clean up messes the agents make or act as a parental figure.  He has his own issues to deal with throughout the series as well, including past actions that may spring up from time to time.  At the same time, he seemed the closest character to embodying what I thought a real-life intelligence agent would be like. Although there are struggles and sacrifices, he seems to have a better understanding and acceptance of what those are than the younger agents under his charge.

Instead of one central story spread over the whole season, the MI-5 crew battle terrorists and those seeking to undermine the government usually with a different “baddie” each week.  In that way it can be hard to swallow at times as I would expect most of these types of operations take months, if not years, to pull off. That said, the series does it so damn good that I had no problem being sucked in and suspending disbelief in that regard. The series is topical as many of the stories will have a ring of familiarity to people who read the news, so it’s sort of a peek at what might have been going on behind the scenes of some of those headlines.

Issues the team faces this first season aren’t just international crises.  An abortion doctor is targeted ostensibly by an imported terrorist (do I even have to go into where that person comes from?), the issues with the British immigrant population are explored, conflict with U.S. intelligence agents crops up when the President comes to visit, and more.  It’s not a long season, but what’s here is a group of first-rate stories that I enjoyed much more than anything I saw coming out of American television at the time.

The one issue people might have is the violence.  The second episode of this first season is pretty brutal in regard to what happens to one female agent.  I sat there with my mouth open, but it shows that this isn’t really a glamorous job and what happens to people in this profession can be brutal, pure and simple.  This is not a series for the faint of heart.

The DVDs are packed with extras. Although there are only two episodes per disc, there is plenty of extra material to fill in the extra space, including commentaries, featurettes, and more.  I’m not crazy about the menu set-up for these discs as at times it can be cumbersome to get to the material I want to view, but that’s the biggest problems I have with the entire package.

If you like spy shows and thrive on realism, MI-5 is the series for you.  This first season sets the tone for the entire series, which is now in its tenth season.  I highly recommend it, especially after being disappointed by similar American shows.


DISC ONE

Episode 1.1 (available with commentary by writer David Wolstencroft, producer Jane Featherstone, director Bharat Nalluri, Graeme Mearns (Jed))

Episode 1.2 (available with commentary by writer David Wolstencroft, producer Simon Crawford Collins, director Bharat Nalluri)


SPECIAL FEATURES:

• The Origins of MI-5
• Profile: Tom Quinn
• Creating MI-5: David Wolstencroft
• Directing Ep 1-2: Bharat Nalluri
• Photo Gallery
• DVD-Rom Content

DISC TWO

Episode 1.3 (available with commentary by producer Simon Crawford Collins, Keeley Hawes (Zoe), Director Rob Bailey, Writer Simon Mirren)

Episode 1.4 (available with commentary by producer Simon Crawford Collins, Director Rob Bailey, Writer Howard Brenton)

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• The Look of MI-5
• Profile: Zeo Reynolds
• Appraisal – Harry Pearce
• The Cast
• MI-5 Terminology
• Secret Credits (Ep 3-4)
• Henry VI

DISC THREE

Episode 1.5 (available with commentary by writer Howard Brenton, David Oyelowo (Danny), series producer Jane Featherston, editor Colin Green, director Andy Wilson)
Episode 1.6 (available with commentary by writer Howard Brenton, David Oyelowo (Danny), series producer Jane Featherston, editor Colin Green, director Andy Wilson


SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Profile: Jenny Agutter
• Appraisal – Danny Hunter
• Profile – Harry Pearce
• Deleted Scenes
• Secret Credits
• Season Two Preview
• The World of Spies
• Producers
• Appraisal – Tessa Phillips
• Gallery