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lwhite53 · 09-02-2010, 12:56 AM

Info from 2.3 dvd commentary:
-Sam and Danny were sent out together to establish early stages of possible romance -- never came to fruition.
-Nicola Walker (one of the commentators) bemoaning that neither Ruth nor Colin (Rory also on the commentary) were in the title shots for s2.
-In the ep, distinct feeling that Ruth is reporting back to GCHQ -- don't know whether to trust her.
-Writers don't like to write "explanation" scenes, but they're necessary or else the audience is lost.
-Most of this episode is a "red herring."
-All new writers get the brief: Make sure the audience knows early on in the ep what's at stake, what the threat to national security is. NW: On a scale of 1 to 10, the threat is always an 11.
-Zoe and Carlo -- brief encounter in bar is to set them up for future ep.
-Tom and Dr. Vicky in bar -- pure sex moment. Tom wants to rip her clothes off. Also, doesn't want to boast about being a spy, but can't help himself. He's somewhat pissed off that she's not more impressed.
-Writer for ep knew absolutely nothing about computers or hacking. "Basically, it's all rubbish!"
-NW uses mouse a lot because she can't type.
-Original plan was to cast a "very well known" boy actor to play Noah but decided not to because they wanted the character to blend into the background until he was needed in the story. If a more well known actor was cast, audience would have known from the get go that the character was important -- would have been too prominant.
-"James Bond goes to Instanbul and Tokyo but these people are fighting for world peace down your high street and around the back of shops." Stories more grounded in reality than usual spy fare.
-"The blue one" (sweater line) became the boy's joke on the set for weeks.
-Scene with Zoe in classroom using Dido song -- "Don't Think of Me" could be a spy's anthem.
-Interrogation scene with Zoe and Blaney -- first time audience realizes that Blaney may be wrong man.
-Antony and Cleopatra sub-plot became more prominant than originally intended because BBC was quite keen on it -- felt it added to the tension and jeopardy of the story line.
-Moving into the finale, the action stops so the backstory of the Gleeson's can be related. Very unusual to do so at this point in an ep, but it works because Harry makes the decision to let them know about it and accepts responsibility for Victor's death. Also, producer's spent money creating the farmhouse and those shots made the explanation much more poignant, and gave the visual for the spider motif used throughout the ep.
-Worried about story of boy hacking into MI5 mainframe -- would audience find it believable.
-At end, Harry not looking at Noah with any animosity, just pity and sadness.

Note: There is no commentary for 2.4