Spooks

Spooks (2002)

15 mistakes

(0 votes)

Episode #4.1 - S4-E1

Character mistake: Ruth tells the Oxford professor that she read "Classics" at Oxford. That's a major mistake - Oxford doesn't offer "classics" as a course: it is called "Greats" (or "Lit Hum"), and is referred to as such by the students reading it. It might be one thing for an Oxford alumnus to call it "Classics" when speaking to someone not at Oxford, but they would never say it to a member of the Oxford faculty.

swordfish

Episode #6.6 - S6-E6

Continuity mistake: When the plane lands, they use stock footage of a Boeing 747 with four engines visible. All other shots are a 757 with two engines.

Episode #3.5 - S3-E5

Continuity mistake: Danny is on the range firing a chrome/silver Beretta pistol. The other agent on the range takes it from him, but when he is shown shooting it has changed to a black Glock. When he hands it back it has become a Beretta again.

The Lesser of Two Evils - S1-E6

Factual error: The bomb in the laptop contains 6 ounces of semtex. Nowhere near enough to "blow up the street." Tom's girlfriend could have gone upstairs and been perfectly safe from the blast.

Episode #9.1 - S9-E1

Factual error: A shipping container has a sign on it written in French, part of which reads "Attente cinq minutes...", which is intended to mean "Wait five minutes..." "Attente" is the noun "wait", not the verb, so the sign should instead read "Attendez cinq minutes..." Another sign reads "2.5m", but this should be "2,5m" as French uses a comma as a decimal point. (00:11:20)

paolog

Episode #8.8 - S8-E8

Other mistake: Tariq has been tasked with finding hotel guests who share their surnames with American presidents. His computer screen is shown with the search in progress. The surname "Bush" appears twice (two presidents, but only one surname), and the counts for the two entries are different. In addition, the name "Truman" is misspelled as "Trueman." (00:28:15)

paolog

Episode #3.3 - S3-E3

Audio problem: In a conversation with Colin, Zoƫ says "What is the point of it being able to do all this stuff if we can't see the results?" The camera then cuts away from her face, she continues "We need to find out who [name I won't embarrass myself by misspelling] is talking to." This line has been dubbed in, as it is said while the actress' face is off-screen and in a completely different tone of voice. (00:35:30)

Episode #4.4 - S4-E4

Character mistake: A computer screen giving details of the villain of the week contains various spelling and grammatical errors: "Embassey", "Assination" and "Assination of with".

paolog

Episode #4.2 - S4-E2

Continuity mistake: The ladder carried by a bomber is a plain, ordinary ladder. After he puts it up against a post, it changes to an extendable one made up of three connected ladders.

paolog

Episode #4.1 - S4-E1

Character mistake: Ruth requests a search of London streets with the name "Achilles" in them. A list of streets appears on a computer screen, but when one of them is selected, it is spelled "Achillies."

paolog

Episode #5.2 - S5-E2

Plot hole: Collision between the two planes would have been prevented by TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system) computer systems installed on both planes. The TCAS systems automatically coordinate with each other and issue a TA (Traffic Advisory) with an audible "TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC", then if on a course that could result in a collision or near miss, issue an RA (Resolution Advisory) to their respective flight crews. Typically one plane's flight crew is audibly ordered to "DESCEND, DESCEND" by its' TCAS and the other plane will be instructed to "CLIMB, CLIMB" by its' TCAS. The flight crew is required to follow their TCAS instructions over the air traffic controller's. All commercial airliners are required to have a functioning TCAS computer. These systems were obviously not under control of the terrorists, they were conveniently ignored in the plot. (00:03:20 - 00:06:47)

Episode #4.2 - S4-E2

Other mistake: There is a scene set in the basement of Thames House. It is one of the most secure buildings in the country, but has graffiti on the walls.

More quotes from Spooks

Trivia: Spooks does not have actor credits at the end. The Internet Movie Data Base even lists the lead actors as 'uncredited' for many seasons.

Jeff Walker

More trivia for Spooks

The Lesser of Two Evils - S1-E6

Question: In this episode, Patrick McCann and his IRA splinter group plot to blow up "Broad Street Station" in London. In reality, British Rail beat him to it years ago. The real Broad Street Station closed in 1986, and has since been demolished (an office complex now stands on the site). Does anyone know which railway station (or stations) posed as the fictional Broad Street Station in this episode?

Answer: The shots of the tube station closing and the shot of the concourse were shot at Marylebone station. There is also a shot of the tracks in which a sign is visible pointing to Southwark station and the Jubilee Line, and I suspect this is a stock shot filmed at Waterloo station.

Sierra1

More questions & answers from Spooks

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.