Series 9 DVD Release

[Tea Lady]

Just watched the commentary for 9.7. Very interesting indeed and helped explain a few things. Obviously you may not want to read below if you have not watched it yet.

Series 9.7 commentary Spoiler: show

Anthony Neilson the writer was explaining why there wasn't much Dimitri in this episode or Beth for that matter, and as a series as a whole. He was saying it was just very difficult to write for characters that had not been cast yet and you hadn't got much information on their background. Hence they concentrated writing for the characters they did know.

With regards to revisiting what happened to George and Nico in series 8, NW was glad they did this. NW said she felt this had been brushed aside a little too easily in the previous series.

As for Harry and Ruth, Anthony says this episode helps explain why Ruth turned down Harry's marriage proposal and that they were glad Ruth did turn Harry down, because for the fans, the feeling of frustration lasts longer than being pleased about something.

NW was also commenting that the chaos which surrounds filming helps get the most out of their scenes. As the actors don't know what scene is coming next and only get the script on the day, they act for the moment, instead of acting for what they know is coming in the next few scenes.

NW, Anthony and Andrew Woodhead did all seem a little down on Series 8 in the commentary and felt it had moved too far away from the characters. They felt Spooks had also moved too much towards TV's 24 instead of John le Carre. They had deliberately tried to move it back to le Carre in Series 9 and will move it further there in Series 10 (perhaps because of budget issues as well.)

Anthony will also be writing for Series 10 and it sounds like he will be writing very much with Nicola in mind as he loves writing for her. He made a comment towards the end of the episode when Ruth had just shot the bloke and is handing the gun over to Harry. Anthony says this is the point they set up Ruth's character for Series 10. This is an important stage in the progression of Ruth's character, he says.

Another interesting comment, right at the end of the commentary, is when the advert appears for episode 9.8. They all say how much they are looking forward to this episode and, "the new spy's in there as well." (I took from this that Alec is now a permanent fixture.)