The essential episodes of Spooks
Watch these 15 in order and you've got Spooks — each pick states its reason.
- 01
Tom is informed of 20 bombs that have gone astray in Liverpool. Minutes later a car bomb kills a family-planning doctor and their daughter. Can the team find the remaining 19 bombs before they go off?
- 02
Race riots are becoming a national problem; MI5 are sure that businessman Robert Osbourne is responsible. Tom recruits MI5 secretary, Helen, to befriend Osbourne's wife and recruit her as a source.
- 03
While at the Turkish Embassy, Zoe is caught up in a siege by the Kurdish Liberation Army. Led by Leyla Ahmed, the rebels demand Kurdish prisoners be released from Turkey in return for hostages.
- 04
A car bomb kills the Northern Ireland Secretary and his two daughters. Soon after a British army base is attacked. Bosnian war criminal, Miroslav Gradic, is spotted flying into the UK and the team soon realise that this could be the start of a revenge campaign.
- 05
An MI5 agent is identified and tortured inside a Birmingham mosque. Before the agent's health deteriorates, he tells Tom that boys inside the mosque are being trained to become suicide bombers.
- 06
MI5's central computer is being hacked and the number one candidate is school teacher, Gordon Blaney. Zoe goes undercover to get near to him, however she begins to doubt that he is the man they want.
- 07
Tom Quinn has disappeared after shooting his boss. He is also accused of assassinating the Chief of Defence Staff. The Joint Intelligence Committee Chairman opens a punitive investigation of MI5.
- 08
As the hunt for the bomb maker intensifies, Adam races to save the life of one of his team. But with another bomb set to devastate London, he is forced to risk the life of an innocent young girl to avert disaster.
- 09
The team are pushed to the limit as the country is plunged into chaos by a series of terrorist attacks.
- 10
The highly-contagious plague-like virus unleashed by the Tehran blast is on the streets of London and a wounded, infected Zaf has been captured, possibly alreadykilled. As the team races against time to stop the virus spreading, they corral and infect top international spies in a bid to discover a vaccine.
- 11
An Al Qaeda cell kidnap a soldier and demand that Remembrance Sunday be cancelled as it is an affront to all dead Muslim soldiers.
- 12
Lucas's past comes back to haunt him when his former torturer Darshavin turns up with intelligence about a bomb in London.
- 13
Beth and Dimitri go undercover when the US president visits London to chair top secret peace talks between Israel and Palestine.
- 14
Ghosts from the past come back to haunt MI5 chief Harry Pearce, prompting a shocking revelation about his time as a spy during the Cold War.
- 15
Harry is handed over to the CIA, ready for deportation to the US, but events are thrown into turmoil when the team receive detailed knowledge of an attack on the UK.
Shows like Spooks
The closest matches on shared genres, ranked by match strength and popularity.
- 01Drama·Thriller·EspionageThe essential episodes of The Night Manager2016–present·BBC iPlayer
Drama series based on the John le Carré novel. - 02Drama·Thriller·EspionageThe essential episodes of Slow Horses2022–present
Slow Horses follows the story of a group of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 called Slough House after the big mistakes they've made that resulted in the end of their… - 03Drama·Thriller·EspionageThe essential episodes of Lioness2023–present·Paramount+
Lioness, inspired by an actual U.S. Military program, follows the life of Joe while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA's spear in the war on terror. - 04Drama·Thriller·EspionageThe essential episodes of The Agency: Central Intelligence2024–present·Paramount+The Agency: Central Intelligence follows Martian, a covert CIA agent ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London Station.
- 05Drama·Thriller·EspionageThe essential episodes of The Capture2019·BBC iPlayerWhile disentangling misinformation from truth in an era of deepfakes, alternative facts and ubiquitous surveillance, investigations of damning video evidence calls into question whether seeing is deceiving.
- 06Drama·Thriller·EspionageThe essential episodes of Black Doves2024–present
Helen Webb, politician's wife, doting mother, and professional spy, has been passing on her husband's secrets to the Black Doves, the shadowy organization for whom she works.
