MI-5, Volume 4

I can't get enough of MI-5 and our gang of "good" spies trying to save Britain from domestic and foreign terrorists. There is never a dull moment at the Thames House, the MI-5 Headquarters in London. The stories can seem repititious with fundamentalist terrorists trying to control the world or seek revenge sprinkled in are the formerly "good" spies who have now turned to the dark side.The constant character shift in MI-5 is amazing. Characters are killed or are sent away. No ones enter the picture. It is a constant shift. Peter Firth as Harry Pearce, the head of the MI-5, is the one constant and the glue that binds the series together. Nicola Walker as Ruth Evershed is my favorite. Lovely, insecure yet amazingly skilled with computer skills, Ruth is the other keystone in the series.The stories can be over the top but there is a fun to it and the series is addictive. Unlike in US shows, we usually know very quickly who the criminals are. With London's maize of close circuit TV cameras, every crime is caught on video. Add in MI-5's amazing Facial Recognition technology and the terrorist has a name. Our MI-5 spies are adept at breaking into homes and placing secret cameras and audio bugs. With all this technology, it still takes time to get the evidence needed for an arrest.The last episode leaves us with a serious cliff hanger. I have to hurry and get Season 5 to see what happens. A former spy has gone wild with "proof" that the MI-5 was responsible for Princess Diana's death. What is the real truth?Season 4 did not delve as much into the personal lives and conflicts of the spies and the previous seasons, although there is one major cast change and the emotional conflict this causes.The series if fun and addictive. It is far from perfect but it has charm and adventure.

As I have previously stated on this board. I became a huge fan of the fine BBC spy/thriller MI-5 starting with Season Seven (7) and became so very addicted to the series that I started viewing the past seasons. Now I am "up to" Season four (4) of catching up to the current season of MI-5 , I am still very much thrilled with this super intense British "high tech" spy thriller. Season four (4) of MI-5 is so finely done that it kept me poised on "the edge of my seat" in anticipation of "what happens next" and/or how is this terrible "espionage problem "going to be solved plus I was "blown away" with all of the extreme "high tech" gadgets that the spies have at their disposal in season four (4).Season four (4) of MI-5 contains ten (10) very well written, wonderfully directed and fabulously acted episodes on five (5) discs, My god, the episodes are so good. I was always trying to differentiate the "good" characters from the "bad" characters. One can never, at first, determine if a character is really what he/she says she/he is--a lot of "double agents" to keep the viewing audience guessing and surprised. A very fine season indeed, although I "lost" many of my favorite characters through tragic circumstances. I look forward to the next seasons--I am truly "hooked".

Who comes up with these stories? They are great! I discovered the series on Amazon Prime and instantly became a fan. The writing and productions are just dark enough to be believable without becoming completely depressing. The acting is superb, though the dialect coach could have done better when it came to the Russian accents. The primary characters each go through realistic arcs as their individual traits are hammered and tempered by the demands of their work assignments. The line between the good guys and the bad guys is kept just fuzzy enough to show that human nature is fundamentally gray in color. Adam is one of Rupert Penry Jones' best characters.I watched the first eight seasons that were free on Amazon Prime and am ready to purchase the DVDs of the final two seasons. I periodically rewatch various episodes to appreciate the way in which the writers construct the stories and develop the characters. The directing is solid and the technical elements are very well done.Thank you, Amazon Prime!

This season was up the high standard set by the previous three in my opinion. The great things about this show are the British perspective and also the fact that no character seems sacred. On the other hand, the fact that no character is sacred is also a bit of a short comming. I would like to see a little bit more character continuity, but overall still a great show. Only the Brits would have an episode dreaming up a conspiracy within the British intelligence services to knock off Princess Di!

I';m addicted to MI-5. Already finished seeing all the seasons about a year ago, and have started to rematch them on Amazon. Am I crazy? Maybe, but the stories, the acting, the intensity of the plots, are all fascinating, and if you think they are dated, check out any of them, and you'd think they were just realized a few weeks ago! Pertinent to today's world - 2016!

While I found it hard to lose most of the original main characters from the first 3 years, season 4 still delivers a great series that is head and shoulders above 24 and anything else on U.S. television. Also, as of the date of this review I have discovered (much to my delight) that BBC America has picked up MI-5 and is showing it from the beginning. The bad news is, they seem to be putting in even more commercials than A&E did. However, that just makes viewing the DVD version that much more enjoyable.

the first three seasons of mi-5 are great entertainment. well written, well acted, unpredictable, and believable. now, the writing is definitely from the b-team, the acting by some of the ensemble is poor, the end of the story is definitely predictable to anyone awake and thinking, and some of the plot devices are not believable at all. the episode about the smuggler truck from istanbul was especially risible. maybe they will kill off some of the lame actor's characters, and the producers will put a well earned boot up the writers' arses. too good an idea to let die easily.

LOVE this show. Well written, directed and acted. One of my all-time faves.Unfortunately when we reached season 4, we found that 4 episodes (across 3 discs) of the "used - very good" DVD's do not play. Episodes 4, 8, 9 and 10 (discs 2, 4 and 5) would not play. Episodes 4 and 8 skip and freeze about 20 minutes and then the DVD player crashes. Disc 5 (with episodes 9 and 10) won't even load, much less play. The DVD player throws up a "?" and says it is unable to play the disc.I don't blame the seller for this, as it is clearly a manufacturing defect. The question is, did we just get a bad set? Or were these problems endemic to ALL the season 4 DVD sets produced? We don't know. And we are well past the specified return date / exchange date.EDIT: 4 days later...I contacted the seller, Maple Emporium, to let them know our DVD set had manufacturing defects and to inquire as to whether they had an additional set I could purchase (since I was 9 months past the original purchase date). They were fantastic! They were under no obligation to do anything, but they had 1 remaining season 4 dvd set and they sent it to me free of charge to replace the bad set, with overnight shipping.When the new dvd set arrived, we were able to watch episode 4 and also episode 9. Unfortunately, episode 8 did the same thing it did on the original set -- skip, freeze crash. And episode 10 would not load at all. We clicked on it, and the dvd went back to the boot screen / opening logos and disclaimers that come up when you first load it in the dvd player. We tried going to "select chapters" and getting into it that way, and it went back to the boot screens again. We tried "play all" thinking that it might just transition from episode 9 into episode 10, but that didn't work either -- after the end of episode 9, it went back to the boot screens. Sigh.So that's that. It's definitely not Maple Emporium's fault and I don't blame them one bit. This is clearly crappy manufacturing and equally crappy QC (quality control). This dvd manufacturer (a company called "2 / Entertain", I think?) should be thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed to put out a product like this. Their execs should be publically flogged. Or something.I DO have to wonder -- how many sets would I have to buy to get all 10 episodes to actually play?! Unfortunately, due to the faulty episodes, we will be left with a few lingering questions for all eternity as to "who did what and why and how?".Even with all these issues -- these are First World problems -- MI-5 (aka Spooks) remains an awesome show. And Maple Emporium is a top notch seller.

This is a very good series. We had seen it (the series) on TV and wanted to see it from the beginning, hence the purchase. It's excellent. I love the way each programme starts. You are instantly drawn into the world of MI 5. The character of Adam (Rupert Penrhy-Jones) is very good, the choice of Adam was good to take over from Tom MacFayden. It was sad when Danny left the show, though I can understand why the actor did so.I don't regret buying this one bit. I will watch it again.

MI-5 est vraiment intéressant et j'adore cette série. Bravo. Toute fois le film est en anglais.

I have always been a big fan of this series, many twists in it's episodes, much better than American spy shows.

Very fast paced and smart. I am always sitting on the edge of my seat through each episode. Always unpredictable.