Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: How many series of Spooks have been released?
Spooks (known as MI-5 in some countries) is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 to 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid. It is notable for various stylistic touches, and its use of popular guest actors. In the United States, the show is broadcast under the title MI-5. In Canada, the programme originally aired as MI5 but now airs on BBC Canada as Spooks.
A new website called "Spooks Interactive" was created to coincide with the launch of the series.[16] In April 2008, the Spooks production team won the BAFTA Award for Interactivity for their work on Spooks Interactive.[19]
The music for series 1 to 4 and theme tune was composed by Jennie Muskett. Music for series 5 to 10 was composed by Paul Leonard-Morgan. Four soundtracks have been released for the show, the first includes music from series 1 & 2, the second (currently and perhaps only ever available on iTunes) featuring music from series 5 & 6 (Two additional tracks are available on the composer's website). The third and fourth soundtracks (containing tracks from series 7 & 8, and 9 & 10 respectively) were released on iTunes in November 2011.[55][56] The track listings contain spoilers to the episode content.
The Spook's Battle, written by Joseph Delaney, is the fourth story in The Wardstone Chronicles series. It was released in America in March 2008, and is titled Attack of the Fiend, as the fourth book in The Last Apprentice series.
Tom Ward lived his whole life in the County (loosely based on the English county of Lancashire). Because he is the seventh son of a seventh son and thus has the ability to see ghosts and fight other supernatural beings, his parents have apprenticed him to the Spook, a cloaked man named John Gregory. The Spook travels the County fighting troublesome creatures such as boggarts, ghosts, ghasts and witches for the people who need these things gone. Tom will have to learn how the Spook fights "The Dark", so that he may one day become a Spook as well.
The seventh series attracted critical acclaim, with some reviewers considering it to be the best series of "Spooks". Leigh Holmwood of "The Guardian" feared that the death of Adam "would have cast a long shadow," but barely noticed his absence given the pace of the episodes. Holmwood also believed that Lucas' introduction "more than made amends" for replacing Adam, and also felt the return of Ros Myers and her promotion was "a genius move." Mark Wright of "The Stage" thought that it was "stunning" with the last three episodes in particular "hitting new heights of tension and storytelling for the series," adding it is "as good as, if not the better, than the first couple of seasons." Wright also believed the series performed well with a reduced series length of eight as opposed to the ten episodes from the last few series, which he said allowed for "tighter, more focussed storytelling." He also felt the cast changes "always felt naturally organic," and praised Adam's exit, Lucas' introduction, and the "fantastic, strong female role model" of Hermione Norris' portrayal. Wright ended by saying ""Spooks" has been my favourite show of the last few months and indeed of 2008."
"The Spook Who Sat by the Door" is a critical reflection upon the racism, violence, and oppression lived by African Americans in the United States. As such, the novel is a manual on how to be a successful revolutionary, by beating The System at their own game. The character of "Dan Freeman" demonstrates the importance of co-operation among oppressed peoples in fighting for equality and freedom. About the publication of the novel and the release of the film "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" (1973), directed by Ivan Dixon, Greenlee said:
"The Wardstone Chronicles" (published in America as "The Last Apprentice") follow Tom Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, on his adventures as apprentice to John Gregory, the local "Spook" or master fighter of supernatural evil. John is the Spook for "the County" and gives Tom practical instruction on tackling ghosts, ghasts, witches, boggarts, and all manner of other things that serve "The Dark". Tom soon discovers that most of his predecessors have failed for various reasons – including death. As the "Chronicles" progress the focus expands to other characters such as the assassin Grimalkin and the young witch Alice Dean; overall the series develops the plot line of Tom being destined to either save the world or destroy it. "The County" referred to in the "Chronicles" is based on Lancashire in the north west of England. Several of the locations mentioned in the books are thinly-veiled versions of actual places; Priestown is the author's hometown of Preston, Caster is Lancaster, Black Pool is Blackpool, and Chipenden is Chipping."The Starblade Chronicles" are a planned trilogy following the continued adventures of Tom Ward, who has finished his apprenticeship and is now a Spook in his own right dedicated to fighting an unparalleled evil threatening the County, and the world. However, unlike past Spooks, Tom is only seventeen, and he is met with doubt and distrust by many in the County owing to his age. Complicating matters is his interactions with Jenny; the sixteen-year-old girl who seeks to be his apprentice, notwithstanding that women have never been Spooks before. The "Wardstone" and "Starblade Chronicles" are referred to as "The Spook's Series".Delaney has also written spin-off novels set in the world of "The Wardstone Chronicles":"Arena 13" follows the adventures of sixteen-year-old Leif, who seeks to become the champion of the notorious Arena 13 fighting pit and destroy Hob, the evil creature who rules and terrorises the city zone of Midgard and who destroyed Leif's family."Aberrations" follows the story of Crafty, who has been stuck in his family's cellar for nearly a year, his only companions are his restless, whispering dead brothers, and an unusually friendly aberration he names the Bog Queen.In 2014, Stephen Delaney, Joseph Delaney's son, adapted "The Spook's Apprentice" into a 160-page play script; it is published under the title "The Spook's Apprentice – Play Edition".
"Spooked" received mixed reviews, although many critics complimented Ellie Kemper's performance. According to the Nielsen Media Research, "Spooked" drew 5.53 million viewers and received a 2.9 rating/7% share in the 18–49 demographic. The episode ranked as one of the lowest-rated episodes of the series to air on Thursday and ranked third in its timeslot.
This is also the first short in the series filmed for flat wide-screen. Although some films of this period were composed for the Academy aspect ratio and released in wide-screen during the confusion, "Spooks!" and future releases were composed at 1.85:1, Columbia's house ratio.
Broadcast editions of the episodes have been known to feature alternate music to that found on the commercially available DVD releases. In the final episode of Series 2, music from the film score Spy Game was used—composed by Harry Gregson-Williams. The tracks used are "Beirut, a War Zone" and "Operation Dinner Out". Both are available on the official soundtrack release for the film.
The decision to relate the new project to the original "Spooks" was controversial, with actor Georgia Moffett saying "it's slightly misleading in terms of the word Spooks." and producer Chris Fry saying "this is a completely new show. There are no crossover characters or storylines and, most importantly, it is set in a completely new world." After the first series ended relatively unsuccessfully (with an audience of 245,000 for the series finale) executive producer Karen Wilson claimed that many of the existing cast members were "contracted for another year" and outlined themes "we'd like to explore if we get a second series." However, due to low ratings and damning reviews, a second series was never commissioned.
The second episode included the death of a main character. The idea was originally going to be used in the series finale. However, the producers did not know how to fill in episode two, so the death was moved up. According to Wolstencroft, the inclusion of Helen's death was to give the audience the message that "the world of Spooks isn't the world where the cavalry always arrive, because in reality these people [MI5] do risk their lives on our behalf and they do get into sticky situations with genuinely nasty people." The producers also wanted main characters to die on occasion rather than on a weekly or bi-weekly basis; otherwise it would show MI5 officers as not doing their jobs properly.[23] Although Spooks is a serious show, the writers add occasional humour from the characters. According to Wolstencroft, he felt that anybody who works in such an occupation with high responsibilities tends to have humour around, and that those people make jokes even though they have seen "heinous things". This became the basis for creating Jools Siviter.[13]
The tenth series of "Spooks" was first released on DVD on 28 November 2011 in the United Kingdom (Region 2), and was later released in the United States (Region 1) on 6 March 2012. It will be released in Australia (Region 4) on 4 April 2012. The box set includes all six episodes of the final series on three discs, with two of the episodes containing optional audio commentaries from the show's writers and directors. Other special features include two featurettes; "Spooks' Top 10 Moments", which comprises cast and crew members picking their favourite "Spooks" scenes, and "Harry's Game", which features interviews concerning the story arc of the tenth series. It was released with a "15" British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) certificate (unsuitable for viewers under the age of 15 years).
Scarlett is the second release and first full-length album of indie rock group Spook the Horse released on February 18, 2009.
Spook the Horse was selected as one of a handful of local Seattle bands featured in the 2007 release, Volume 5 of DVD music performance series "Burn to Shine" and features the song Another New Year, also found on the Scarlett release
The Spooks of Bottle Bay is a children's drama series shown between the years of 1993 and 1995 on CITV. The stories behind the show were created by Ian Allen, and the puppets and sets were designed by John Thirtle. Three videos containing a few episodes from the first two series were released in the 1990s, but nothing has been released since then and the show has never been repeated on television. The series was directed by Paul Cole.
Lucas North is a main character in the seventh, eighth, and ninth series; the ninth series reveals that Lucas "isn't who you think he is." Following the creation of the character by the show's writers, Armitage was chosen early in the casting process, since the producers believed he could carry the mystery of the character. A tentative viewer of "Spooks", he was approached for the role following the completion of the second series of "Robin Hood", in which he portrayed series regular Sir Guy of Gisbourne. After agreeing to appear in "Spooks", Armitage learned how to speak fluent Russian and lost a stone in weight in order to fit the description of his character.
The Zara Spook was first developed by the Heddon company as a wooden lure named the Zaragossa 6500 series lures. In 1939 The plastic version was introduced and following the naming of other plastic lures Heddon added spook to the name to classify it as a plastic lure. The Zara Spook 9260 Series lures contained different types of hardware throughout their production. Heddon two piece hardware were the first hardware on the 1939 catalogued Zara Spook. Later lures through the 1940s and 1950s had surface hardware. Later models contained bell hardware and moulded hangers through the 1970s. In the mid-1990s, a 4-inch long model with three hooks was introduced, and a smaller 2-inch model has also been developed for light tackle fishing. The Zara spook and spin off models are one of a few lures still marketed under the Heddon brand name by EBSCO.
Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent, who have been the head writers for the previous ninth series of "Spooks", returned to their writing duties for the tenth series. Sean Cook and Anthony Neilson are also writers of the series. Alrick Riley, Julian Holmes and Bharat Nalluri are the series directors, with Nalluri directing the last two episodes. Chris Fry is the series producer, and Jane Featherstone, Simon Crawford Collins and Howard Burch are the executive producers.
"The Wardstone Chronicles" follow Thomas "Tom" Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son who is apprenticed to John Gregory to become a Spook - a master fighter of supernatural evil. John Gregory is the Spook for "the County" and gives Tom practical instruction on tackling ghosts, ghasts, witches, boggarts, and all manner of other things that serve "The Dark". Tom soon discovers that most of John Gregory's apprentices have failed for various reasons, including being killed in the process of learning how to be a Spook. As the Chronicles progress the focus expands to other characters such as the assassin Grimalkin and the young witch Alice Deane; overall the series develops the plot line of Tom being destined to either save the world or destroy it.
The story of "Spook Warfare" shares many similarities with Mizuki Shigeru's "GeGeGe no Kitarō" (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎, "Scary Kitarou") manga and anime series of the same name which was released around the same time. Academics also point out the film's inherent similarities to the story of Momotarō, who in folklore leads a group of native animals to reclaim the island of Kikaigashima from a group of demons who have overtaken it. The winning cry of "Japanese yōkai have won!" (日本の妖怪勝ったんやぞ！ "Nippon no yōkai ga kattan ya zo!") can also be taken as an affirmation of pride for Japan's native culture. Other films, such as Isao Takahata's "Pom Poko" similarly follow this story of native monsters driving out invading forces.
Sangster, Jim: Spooks Confidential: The Official Handbook (2003), Contender Books (London) ISBN1-84357-069-6 Episode guide of the first two seasons, and background information on MI5 and the making of the series Spooks: The Personnel Files (2007), Headling Publishing Group (London) ISBN978-0-7553-3397-4 Detailed MI5 personnel files of eight of the show's main characters: Adam Carter, Danny Hunter, Zoe Reynolds, Tom Quinn, Ruth Evershed, Harry Pearce, Zafar Younis and Malcolm Wynn-Jones, presented through a compilation of transcripts, reports and forms. Spooks: Behind the Scenes (2006), Orion Books (London) ISBN0-7528-7610-4 Background information on British intelligence and episode guides for the first four series Spooks: Harry's Diary: Top Secret (2007), Headling Publishing Group (London) ISBN978-0-7553-3398-1 The untold stories of Spooks, and MI5, as seen from the perspective of Harry Pearce, the Spooks team leader Adam Carter: Revealed (2008), Headling Publishing Group (London) ISBN978-0-7553-3401-8 Revealing the truth about Adam Carter after his death, explaining the true details of his childhood, the extraordinary responsibilities he took on as a teenager, and how he nearly betrayed his country but never betrayed the people he loved.
Nancy Banks-Smith of The Guardian stated the series is "one of those shiny and insubstantial series," adding that "all that leaping out of bed at dawn on the pretext that you have to go and sell a house tends to wear thin." Banks-Smith also called the story "slightly unexpected" and stated, "Spooks appears to plume itself on its authenticity, and there are moments, well one moment, so stupid it has to be true."[41] Fellow Guardian reviewer Gareth McLean stated that Spooks is "so good it makes you want to be a spy."[43] Dennis Landmann of MovieFreak rated the series eight out of ten, calling it "thrilling, dramatic, and fast", while "much more concise" than many American series. Landmann added; "Each story is complex and convincing, plus the scripts are very well written. A lot goes on in each episode, and it's detrimental for a show like this to keep the action and tension going as fast as possible." The reviewer also noted that having only six episodes worked as an advantage over American television, stating "while this seems incredibly short, the idea is actually very good. This ensures that each episode is strong in content and execution. American shows tend to run for 20–25 episodes a season, and while developments occur, there are always the filler episodes. With [Spooks] there is nothing like it, no filler material at all. In fact, the first season sees a lot of development."[44]
All series of Spooks (most episodes edited) are available on iTunes, with series 7, 8, 9 and 10 becoming available to download one week after original broadcast. Series 1–8 have been released on DVD by Contender Home Entertainment with its successor Entertainment One then taking over; series 9 was released by Universal Playback.
The Spook's Sacrifice is the sixth instalment in the Wardstone Chronicles series by Joseph Delaney. Its release date is 25 August 2009. In the US it is titled "The Last Apprentice: Clash of the Demons".