Connie

[watchstrap]

I really digged Connie too. I liked the way she was a sassy older women, not the stereotypical woman of that age usually portrayed in drama. Her departure dovetailed

Series 8 Spoiler: show

with Ruth coming back and I thought that it was a shame that they didn't have the two of them working together, especially as Malcolm left shortly afterwards and that season they were a light, staffing wise.

Still, I liked the twist and Gemma played quite an excellent baddie!

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[Silktie]

(17-11-2010 08:13 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  I'm sure I read somewhere on the PF Forum recently that bringing Connie into the series, was originally to give Harry a girlfriend. Again, I am sure someone will correct me here if I am wrong, but I think someone had spoken to PF before S6 was filmed and he mentioned this. Clearly though, the writers thought better of it, and Gemma Jones was cast.

Or maybe Connie was going to be the girlfriend? Another Spooks fan I know actually thought they would make a good couple.

[Tea Lady]

(18-11-2010 05:25 AM)Silktie Wrote:  Another Spooks fan I know actually thought they would make a good couple.

Nooooooooooo! She was more like his mother than a lover !!

If we are going to start up the rewatch again soon, then I will really look forward to the Connie episodes.

[Silktie]

(18-11-2010 10:17 AM)Tea Lady Wrote:  

(18-11-2010 05:25 AM)Silktie Wrote:  Another Spooks fan I know actually thought they would make a good couple.

Nooooooooooo! She was more like his mother than a lover !!

Hee! That's what I said...

[Beatriz]

Thank god it wasn't the case!!!

[SweetTea]

I think it would have been a little odd to give Harry a girlfriend who's the analyst for Section D, since we were almost at that point with Ruth before she left. I always saw Connie more like Harry's older sister, especially since she was never afraid to speak her mind to him and challenge him or even just pick on him. All things I did and still do to my younger brothers. :-)

Do you think that the writers envisioned in S6 that Connie would be the traitor in S7? There's a scene mid series 6 where Harry tells everyone that they have a mole on the Grid and of course Ros knows it's her, but Connie also has just a hint of fear in her face as well, so I've wondered about that. Though even if they did have that planned, they may very well have not told Gemma just so that she would continue to play it straight.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize it was Gemma Jones in the role until after I finished S7. I think I had her in my mind as Bridget's mom and since Connie was nothing like that, I didn't make the connection. Even though she turned out to be the traitor, I still enjoyed her character very much and she is exactly what was needed on the Grid and the show in general at the time.

[Silktie]

(31-01-2012 05:26 PM)SweetTea Wrote:  Do you think that the writers envisioned in S6 that Connie would be the traitor in S7? There's a scene mid series 6 where Harry tells everyone that they have a mole on the Grid and of course Ros knows it's her, but Connie also has just a hint of fear in her face as well, so I've wondered about that. Though even if they did have that planned, they may very well have not told Gemma just so that she would continue to play it straight.

No, I honestly don't think they planned seasons ahead with these storylines. PF has spoken about how they had no idea where their characters would be taken even within a particular season, and how it was necessary to develop a sort of 'catch-all' performance that would cover all eventualities. I think Gemma Jones was just particularly good at that type of performance, which gave the writers the leeway to take Connie in the direction they did in season 7. Gemma Jones gave Connie so many layers, that it was possible to believe almost anything they threw at us about Connie.

[Sparky]

I personally think Connie was one of THE great Spooks characters. She was excellent during S6 and S7 and her killing Ben was fantastic TV. She was also one of the last older characters on the Grid and I think they missed that mix in the later series.

If she hadn't turned out to be a traitor, I'd have loved to have seen her in later series as I think she really would have added to them and the casts!

As Silktie said, I think she had no idea in S6 what would happen in S7, and the fact that she made the storyline so plausible is a great reflection both on GJ's acting skills and the S7 writers!

[JHyde]

It is possible that GJ only signed on for 2 seasons and that was an agreed thing, but I agree with Silktie that it wasn't something that was planned, chances are. At least not in a strict way.

[A Cousin]

Somewhere in the audio-commentaries for S7, GJ mentions that, when TPTB asked what she would like to see for her character, she requested to be given a bit more meat to work with in S7 but even she did not know exactly what it would be or where it would end.