Spooks Series 3 (15)

The terrific cliffhanger from season two, where Tom shoots Harry and appears to drown off the Margate coast, is resolved in spectacular fashion, with generally heroic Tom Quinn resorting to murder to clear his name. His change signals his impending departure, as if the introduction of seasoned MI6 agent Adam Carter doesn't. Carter, a sort of James-Bond-with-a-family, joins Section D and established his credentials by talking an ex-CIA agent into suicide in a perfectly acted and directed sequence in episode 1.

The character of Carter seems a little mixed at first. He starts to come across as a confident charmer, before we see him change very quickly into the doting husband and father that becomes his primary trait (and feeds plenty of plots later on). Rupert Penry-Jones is a brilliant foil for the dark, introverted character of Tom Quinn (played perfectly by Matthew Macfayden).

The excellent plots bring in actors like Corin Redgrave, Ian MacNeice, Andy Sirkis, Arabella Weir, Olga Sosnovska and "Blackadder" mainstay Tim McInerny. And again, some brilliant storylines which show the confidence of the writers and directors growing, and some new members of the team joining. This time, our Spooks are faced with a demented computer genius, Nobel Prize Winner turned MI5 sleeper agent, a hyper-political newspaper magnate, a faded rock star who may have kidnapped his own son for publicity, agents framed and agents kidnapped.

This series sees the departure of Tom, Zoe and Danny. Tom has a breakdown and tries to terminate an operation, Zoe is framed by the Government and goes on the run, and Danny is kidnapped and killed in a shocking final episode. Sadly, this marks a milestone in the series. However, it gives the writers the chance to introduce some new and very different characters.

Again, another excellent series. Don't be put off by critics who bemoan the departure of Tom, Zoe & Danny. We get some brilliant new characters and, as a result, storylines get to move in very different directions. Amazingly, this series (in my opinion) does the impossible by topping the first two!