3.5 DVD Commentary

[lwhite53]

Info from 3.5 DVD commentary: (Simon Crawford Collins and David Oyelowo)
-David: scene in shooting range "most fun I've ever had on spooks;" finally got to play with guns.
-SCC: ep 5 favorite of s3.
-Ruth home alone watching "Red Shoes" -- quite sad.
-Ruth's house -- classic scenario of their houses not fitting with their incomes. SCC: all the cheaper houses were boring.
-Very little of Adam in this ep (by onscreen minutes) but he has a clear presence nevertheless.
-Unusual ep for having a lot of personal story in it -- a bit of a one off.
-David: "Some people were kind of a bit worried that we were going down the emotional route with the characters but I think we had earned it by this point."
-In the meeting room scenes -- actors always trying to get their lines in the right order; quite tense and intense.
-David W. script -- lots of tongue twister lines, especially for Harry.
-Almost relationship between Danny and Sam petered out at end of s2 -- felt that Danny's feelings for Zoe gave the show more than a relationship between Danny and Sam would have.
-Storyline of Ruth's infatuation with man being surveilled came from one of the show's original ex-spy advisors -- not uncommon for this to happen in real life.
-David: on the edge in this ep with whether Harry and Adam are "goodies" or "baddies" (spying on Ruth and talking Danny into assassination) -- moral dilemmas.
-Tomato ketchup scene -- Richard Harrington (Will) kept making Keeley crack up; a very funny man on set.
-Why was Zoe sick on ferry? Lots of options -- was she pregnant, too much junk food (Pringles), etc; decided not to clarify.
-Barnaby Kay (John Fortescue) -- NW's boyfriend, at the time (now husband). They found it "cringy" to do the restaurant scene together. Very awkward, although that worked well for their characters.
-Ep intimated that secret services are prone to condoning assassinations -- quite a controversial idea.
-All ferry dialogue dubbed -- too loud outside to use original recorded sound.
-One of the reasons Danny agrees to do the assassination is because he's in love with Zoe; lets her off the hook.
-One of tricky things in the ep was infusing the phone conversations between Danny and Adam with tension -- mainly done with lighting.
-Danny seeing himself as the man to be killed -- emphasizes his moral dilemma.
-NW -- had somewhat mixed feelings about playing this "dateless" character.
-Scene in ferry bar -- all the people in the scene with Danny and Newland were spooks crew because the ferry was absolutely empty.
-Malcolm got his "Bond" moment as Giles.
-David: "Scenes where I have to drink hard are always hilarious to me, having never taken a swig of whiskey in my life."
-Adam talking to Danny -- great for him because it shows his experience; where audience starts to believe in him and he really becomes the leader of the team.
-Needle sticking into bed when David first tries to inject Newland -- absolutely live, happened just that way and they decided to keep it in.
-Tension in "needle" scene was real -- David hates needles.
-Danny telling Zoe about Will's brother -- cruel revenge because she doesn't love him; lines very coldly delivered.
-Next morning, Ruth disappointed with herself for letting moment with John go by -- lacking courage to take advantage of the moment.
-At end, Zoe needs Danny and he refuses to engage with her; doesn't give an inch.
[Throughout commentary, very funny back and forth patter between SCC and David about David leaving the show.]