MI-5: Rest in Peace

How much do I hate BBC America? A lot right now. Apparently, they've decided not to show the rest of season 4 of MI-5. Why, because of ratings. Hello? Do you know how many people actually have BBC America? Not that many. And some of us actually want to watch shows other than Top Gear, or How Clean is My House? This channel is looking a lot like every other channel, with more reality series than fiction. Wasn't the whole point of the channel to bring America the best of British TV? So seriously, you're telling me that Cash in the Attic is the best of British TV? Or Not Going Out?

Why not give us Holby City? Or some of the other crime dramas that they show in the UK? Heck, the BBC has something like 4 channels now, plus they also were showing stuff made by other channels on BBC America like Footballers Wives (god that show was a hoot!). Why not show us Mistresses? Or more Bad Girls? The BBC did a whole series of shows about the 18th Century through the Edwardian Era? Why not show some of that, particularly the Marie Lloyd movie since Richard Armitage is in it, and they must have realized that RA has a sizeable American audience because of North & South and Robin Hood.

Now that Richard Armitage is joining Series 7, perhaps BBC America will rethink their decision about showing the rest of Season 4 and then Season 5. I know I plan on doing a great deal of complaining about it. Think about it, they just have Richard Armitage night, where they show MI-5, Robin Hood and then something else he's been in.

Thank god for DVDs! One of the best things about watching MI-5 on DVD is that you are getting the whole episode as it was shown on the BBC. On both BBC America and A&E, they cut 15 minutes out of each episode to shoehorn in the commercials. Each episode runs almost a full 60 minutes. The extras sort of suck on the DVD's, I'm not quite sure the Brits really know what they are doing when it comes to that kind of stuff.

So now I'm waiting for series 6 to come out on DVD in October in the UK (and presumably soon after here in the US). I am willing to admit that not all the episodes are gems. Season 4 was up and down but Season 5 turned out to be really good apart from losing one of my favorite characters, Ruth Evershed, played by Nicola Walker (that's her up on the left). Ruth wasn't out in the field like Adam Carter or the rest of the team. She mainly did the research in the office, and she was surprisingly good at it. What I loved was her enthusiasm for the job, even as it kept her from having a normal life. In fact, I got the feeling that she used it as an excuse not to have a normal life.

There was a rather poignant episode, where Ruth was listening to the voice of someone they were surveilling and she managed to contrive a meeting with him. Later on they met up at some group that got together to sing choral music. They had a great evening talking but nothing came of it. It was just so sad and reminded me a little too much of my social life. Ruth was attractive, but lacked confidence outside of work. I'm sure a great number of us can identify with that.

Anywhoo, Ruth and Harry Pearce (played by the wonderful not related to Colin, Peter Firth) were attracted to each other, although initially it seemed one sided. But they just never did anything about it, apart from one date that was ruined when another staff member teased Ruth about it. She couldn't take the idea of people talking about her private life in the office, so she told Harry it was not on. Ugh! (Now that is a legitimate conflict though), I wanted to throw things at the TV set.

Finally, when it was too late of course, Harry wanted to admit his feelings to her, but she stopped him, although they did share some lovely kisses.

Sigh! The reason I love this show (besides the moral ambiguity which I blogged about before) is that the stories seemed real, like they could actually happen. Unlike Alias. Seriously, did any Alias viewer out there ever understand the plot lines from one episode to the next? And don't get me started on the whole Rambaldi story line that dragged on from one season to the next and made no sense.

So while I'm waiting for Series 6, I can console myself with the MI-5 Book I ordered from Amazon.co.uk.

Moral Ambiguity - So Hot!

It was recently announced a few months ago that the delicious Richard Armitage would be joining the 7th series of Spooks (which is shown in the States as MI-5) this coming fall. Hallelujah, finally Richard will be in an awesome show, instead of the piece of crap that is Robin Hood. Unfortunately it won't be shown in the States until probably 2009. Boo!

Of course the news has all my friends who have joined the North and South cult very happy. As my friend Liz Maverick said, 'Moral Ambiguity is so hot!'

At least it is when Richard Armitage plays it! His Guy of Gisbourne, along with Keith Allen's Sheriff of Nottingham, is the only good thing about Robin Hood. How can you not find a man, who is evil but still sensitive when it comes to the woman he loves, hot? Its one of the reasons why his performance as John Thornton in North and South has struck such a chord with women.

John Thornton is hard, because he needs to be, to run the mill in northern England. His family has already suffered one reversal of fortune, and it was up to John to change all that, to be able to provide for his mother, and his sister. He has to make hard choices, hiring scabs when the workers go on strike. But his love for Margaret Hale, leads him to discover that it is possible to be an effective businessman, while having some compassion for his workers. They struggle to understand each others position, to overcome their prejudices (sound familiar?). In fact, like Darcy in Pride & Prejudice, Thornton finds himself falling in love with Margaret, even though he's not sure he even likes her. The proposal scene in North and South will break your heart.

And now we get to see RA in MI-5, which is an amazing show that everyone should watch, even though he's not in it yet. Right now, it stars Rupert Penry-Jones, who played Captain Wentworth in the recent version of Persuasion, as Adam Carter. Before that it starred Matthew Macfadyen (who later played Darcy) as Tom Quinn. If only they had cast Richard Armitage in the recent spate of Jane Austen adaptations, it would have been a trifecta! The very lovely Peter Firth, who was so good in Equus and Amadeus on Broadway, plays the leader of MI-5.

This show is kind of like Alias, but MI-5 is actually real, unlike the agency that Sydney worked for that was some kind of CIA splinter group. The missions are also more realistic as well. No one swans off every week wearing skimpy costumes and wigs. MI-5 is the agency in Britain that deals with counter-intelligence. According to Wikipedia, its remit includes the protection of British parliamentary democracy and economic interests, counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence, and counter-espionage. Whew!

If you loved Alias, and miss the thrill of espionage every week, you'll love this show more, because the story-lines are sort of like Law & Order, ripped from the headlines. If you haven't seen it, BBC America shows it Wednesdays at 9 pm. Also, the first four series are on DVD, so go out and rent them.