Spooks : Season 7

The seventh series of the BBC espionage television series Spooks began broadcasting on 27 October 2008 on BBC One before ending on 8 December 2008 on the same channel, and consists of eight episodes, two less than previous series. It follows the actions of Section D, a counter-terrorism division in MI5. The primary storyline involves Sugarhorse, a top secret operation set up by MI5 during the final years of the Cold War, and a mole working for the FSB who intends to leak the operation to the Russians. Peter Firth, Rupert Penry-Jones, Hermione Norris, Richard Armitage, Miranda Raison, Gemma Jones, Hugh Simon and Alex Lanipekun are credited as the main cast. Penry-Jones announced his intention to leave the series in December 2007, while it was later announced Armitage would join. Norris and Raison were both asked to return after their characters were left open for return after the end of the last series. In developing the series, the producers wanted to repeat the serialised style from series six, and settled on using the resurgence of Russia as the primary storyline, as they felt that at the time, the resurgence is in subtle ways threatening the security of the west. The producers also participated in several meetings with the writers to discuss the purpose of Sugarhorse. Filming started in London on March 2008, and later finished on August in the same year, in Moscow, the first time in series history where Spooks was filmed outside the United Kingdom.