While America gave us 24 and Jack Bauer beating the crap out of terrorists, escaping nuclear explosions and double-crossing moles, we had Spooks – the very British spy series with the thrills of James Bond and the hard, stoic glare of John Humphrys confronted with Ex on the Beach.
The BBC espionage series about a group of MI5 officers ran for 10 series from 2002 to 2011, followed by a movie Spooks: The Greater Good last year.
But what have its huge ensemble of talented actors been up to since? Here's a ranking of the main stars' post-show careers so far (we've purposely left out those who were already TV legends like Jenny Agutter and Robert Glenister):
17. Shauna MacDonald (Sam Buxton)
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Since playing admin officer Buxton, Shauna's biggest role was as the lead character Sarah in British horror The Descent and its sequel. Her most high-profile roles since then include an episode of Ripper Street and she currently voices Professor Squawkencluck in the new Danger Mouse series.
16. Miranda Raison (Jo Portman)
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Miranda played junior officer Jo for four series until she sacrificed herself for the good of the team (Jo, not Miranda). She has kept busy since then, appearing in episodes of Merlin, Lewis and 24 among others. She currently voices Millie in the new series of Thomas & Friends and will soon have a small role in Kenneth Branagh's movie adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.
15. Sophia Myles (Beth Bailey)
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Sophia's junior officer in series 9 was actually based on a real-life MI5 officer who she had previously met. Perhaps best known for playing Isolde in 2006's Tristan & Isolde, since Spooks her biggest role was Darcy in the big-budget Transformers: Age of Extinction. She briefly dated David Tennant in 2007, having appeared in a Doctor Who episode as Madame de Pompadour.
14. Hermione Norris (Ros Myers)
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The Cold Feet star played senior case officer Myers from series 5 to 8 before being killed off, and since then she has appeared in a handful of TV projects including Utopia, In the Club, Doctor Who, Outcasts and of course, the return of Cold Feet earlier this year.13. Max Brown (
Dimitri Levendis)
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Max joined the cast as junior officer Levendis in series 10, and since then he has gone on to have a successful TV career in the States. He has had leading roles in Beauty and the Beast, You, Me and the Apocalypse and campy soap The Royals.
12. Peter Firth (Harry Pearce)
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Veteran actor Firth ended up becoming the main star of Spooks as Sir Harry, a role he brought back for the movie The Greater Good in 2015. Since Spooks ended, Peter starred as Jacob Marley in the BBC's ambitious drama Dickensian and most recently played the Duke of Cumberland in ITV's Victoria.
11. Shazad Latif (Tariq Masood)
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Shazad survived for two series from its 8th run before being poisoned, and you probably know him best since then as the one and only Clem Fandango in Matt Berry's surreal comedy Toast of London. He has also had roles in Black Mirror, My Mad Fat Diary and Ordinary Lies, and he also played Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde in Penny Dreadful.
10. Rupert Penry-Jones (Adam Carter)
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Rupert became the lead star of Spooks from series 4 as the new chief, before being dramatically killed off in a huge car explosion in series 7. Among his many projects since then, he starred in ITV crime drama Whitechapel from 2009 to 2013, BBC drama Silk, US horror The Strain, and the swashbuckling series Black Sails.
9. Lara Pulver (Erin White)
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Lara joined up in series 10 as the new chief, and a year later she became even better known for playing Benedict Cumberbatch's clothes-averse Sherlock love interest Irene Adler. She returned for the Spooksmovie in 2015, and has also had roles in Da Vinci's Demons, True Blood and Skins, and she also won a Laurence Olivier award for her part in Gypsy.
8. Nicola Walker (Ruth Evershed)
Nicola was one of the longest-running stars of the show, joining in 2003 before being killed off in series 10. Since the show ended she has appeared in pretty much every British TV drama going, from
Last Tango in Halifax, Prisoners' Wives, Scott & Bailey, Babylon, Unforgotten and
River.
7. Raza Jaffrey (Zafar Younis)
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Raza appeared in Spooks from series 3 to 6, before Zafar got kidnapped, tortured and killed off screen. What a lovely show. Since then, he has been extremely busy, including serial drama Mistresses, and several US shows such as Homeland, Elementary and Code Black. He also had an appearance in Sex and the City 2.
6. Matthew MacFadyen (Tom Quinn)
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Matthew played the show's lead from series 1 to 3, before Quinn was decommissioned as a result of sabotaging an operation. He returned in a cameo for the show's finale in 2011. He has had a varied and successful career since then, including playing Fitzwilliam Darcy in the 2005 film of Pride & Prejudice and as Daniel in the Frank Oz comedy Death at a Funeral.
He also played John Birt in the political drama Frost/Nixon, as well as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid in the BBC series Ripper Street. In 2015 he starred in the Sky Living series The Enfield Haunting as Guy Lyon Playfair. He married his Spooks co-star Keeley Hawes in 2004 and they have two children together.
5. Iain Glen (Vaughn Edwards)
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Glen was already an acting veteran by the time he played baddie Vaughn Edwards in series 9. But since then, his career has gone from strength to strength. This has included playing Jack Taylor in a series of BBC dramas, plus roles in Downton Abbey, Prisoners' Wives, Cleverman, The Iron Lady and Kick-Ass 2.
Best of all, he has played dependable friend-zoner Ser Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones since 2011.
4. Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Jenny)
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Gugu had a supporting role in series 5, and the actress has gone on to feature in various top projects in recent years, first gaining prominence in a recurring role in Doctor Who as companion Martha's sister.
She has had success in America, appearing in Tom Hanks comedy Larry Crowne, the short-lived television series Undercovers and Touch. She also won critical acclaim for her performances in the British period drama Belle and the romance Beyond the Lights. Last year, she premiered the title role in Jessica Swale's play Nell Gwynn, and she recently had a leading role in Black Mirror. Her next project will see her play Plumette in Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast.
3. Richard Armitage (Lucas North)
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Richard joined Spooks as the new chief in series 7 before leaving two years later. Already a familiar face on British TV, since Spooks he has had even bigger successes, most notably playing dwarf prince Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy.
Other notable roles in recent years have included John Proctor in Yaël Farber's stage version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal, King Oleron in Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Daniel Miller in US drama Berlin Station.
2. Keeley Hawes (Zoe Reynolds)
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Keeley played junior officer Zoe before having to leave for Chile in series 3 to avoid jail time (another lovely end), and she has since become a TV queen.
Among her many roles have included Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes, Lady Agnes in the 2010 reboot of Upstairs, Downstairs, Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton in cop drama Line of Duty, the lead in ITV period drama The Durrells, and as a mother in search of her abducted child in The Missing.
1. David Oyelowo (Danny Hunter)
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David played yet another junior officer who died sacrificing himself at the end of series 3. Since then, he has become a genuine Hollywood player thanks to his critically acclaimed performance of Martin Luther King Jr in Selma, earning a Golden Globe nomination.
He has also had supporting roles in the films Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Jack Reacher, Middle of Nowhere, Lincoln and The Butler. You can see him at the moment in A United Kingdom.
