Saturday, July 30, 2011

What Does Spooks (MI-5) have in Common with Pride and Prejudice?

What does Spooks have in common with Pride and Prejudice? On the surface very little. OK, there's that Firth thing. Which actually sounds like more of a connection than it is, considering the two actors (Peter Firth of Spooks and Colin Firth of Pride and Prejudice) are not related.

Besides that and the fact that both take place in England, as a matter of plot and purpose, they are very different indeed.


Having always been more of a Pride & Prejudice kind of gal, I find myself constantly fascinated with the fact that I am head over heels with the TV show Spooks. It seems so strange, but when I am not watching it, I am often thinking of it.

What hold it has, is the same one that other excellent TV drama has -- a fully realized "other world". A world where I can step inside and live for a while. This world is complete, comfortable, peopled with individuals that are flawed and real, interesting and incredibly alive - despite being fictional. In both Spooks and in good period drama, I am transported.

There is nothing wrong with my regular life. I am a happy person who lives squarely in reality. In fact, so squarely in reality, that most film and TV bores me. I do not readily give up the time it takes to watch screens. Still, put something supremely transporting on the screen and I am a willing participant.

I hand over responsibility for what fills my mind during the hours I am with a show like Spooks. And the beautiful thing is, that when it's over I am not ashamed for having done so. Really good drama is like reading a really good book. When you shut the cover, the contents stay with you. When I flip off the show at the end of Spooks, it is the same.  I can readily picture the "Grid". I can remember the faces and conversations of my fictional companions there. I can remember how I feel while watching it and can almost think of it as another place I live. Just as, while watching Pride and Prejudice, can see myself as that 6th Bennett sister.

When drama is superb, its effect on my mind, my thoughts, my memory, my life can be profound. Even though it is just TV.

And, oh yeah, there's something else --- they both have Matthew MacFadyen. And, wait, now that I'm thinking of it, each features one of the best couples of all time! (Elizabeth & Darcy and Harry & Ruth). Wow, I guess there is a lot.

"What Does Spooks (MI-5) have in Common with Pride and Prejudice?" LostinBritishTV

4 comments:

  1. Funny I could have written this - I adore Jane Austen books, tv, film, and fanfiction AND I love Spooks.

    I started watching it because of Matthew MacFadyen and said I would stop watching when he left, then the same with Adam and then Ros and then Lucas North hmmm. I kept getting drawn in by the new characters...

    I noticed a lot of actors in common from Austen productions so I thought I would compile a list :

    Guy Henry Mr. Collins in Lost in Austen plays a lawyer somewhere around season 8 or 9 ish

    Anna Chancellor (Juliet Shaw) played CarolineBingley in 2005 of P & P

    Sophia Myles (Beth) was in Mansfield Park

    RUpert Penry Jones (Adam) was Cptn Wentworth in Persuasion in 2007

    Gemma Jones (Connie) was Mrs Dashwoodin Sense and Sensibility 1995

    Simon Russell Beale ( Home Secretary series 9 and 10) was in Persuasion 1995

    Hugh Laurie (Jools Siviter)- Sense and Sensibility 1995

    Robert Glenister (Nicholas Blake) Persuasion 1995

    Tobias Menzies(Home Secretary 2010 -Andrew) Persuasion 1995

    I am sure there are other characters I've missed but these I noticed along the way :)

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment!! This has to be the coolest thing anyone has ever put together in the comments on any post!! I love your list. I'm only jealous I didn't think of doing it. Not really : ) This is an awesome list of Spooks/Austen crossover actors and I LOVE it.

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  2. and Lizzie Hexam character in Dicken's Our Mutual Friend, is Zoe in MI5

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