An everyday story of British spies

Spooks (BBC1)

INSIDE this new spy series is a serious drama trying to get out. Having employed various former MI5 and CIA operatives to give the series authenticity, the first episode negated that factual basis with a run-of-the-mill story of British spies and a less-than-revealing look behind the doors of their personal life.

As hokum, Spooks might just work. As anything more meaningful, it won't, at least on the evidence of the opening episode.

There was a lot of people talking quickly and urgently about zone one flashes as a pro-life campaigner argued her case by blowing up doctors involved in performing abortions.

Leading spook Tom Quinn and his team were hot on her trail despite claiming "our workload has exploded" in the wake of events on September 11. I thought the choice of words was a little unfortunate considering they were after a bomber.

Tom has other problems too. He's also Matthew, who works in IT. That's what he's told his latest girlfriend - the one who is "the best thing that's happened to me". He not only spends his professional life deceiving people but his private life too. How do you tell your loved one that you're a spy for a living?

An interesting dilemma, but one that took second place to fast music, fancy split screen footage and a wet cat.

The moggy was let out, not of the bag but bomber Mary Kane's house when MI5's finest agents went to plant bugs there. You think they'd have been a bit more careful. Happily, they were able to round up the pussy, who'd got soaked in a downpour, and dry it off ("find a hairdryer") so the owner's suspicions weren't aroused.

The spooks feared that American citizen Kane was planning a major bombing campaign after arriving in the country with 20 bombs in her luggage. She planned to explode them to mark the execution of her husband in a US prison.

Matthew Macfadyen made a decent enough leading man as the mighty Quinn, but we've yet to see what Keeley Hawes can do as his right hand MI5 woman. Peter Firth huffed and puffed as their boss, while Jenny Agutter wandered in and out of offices clutching pieces of paper in search of a character to play.