Spy is a British television programme originally made by Wall to Wall for BBC Three in 2004. It has been one of the most-exported United Kingdom television shows; according to the Producers' Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT), it had been sold to 129 countries by April 2005. The series follows a group of real-life volunteers as they are trained by former spies in espionage techniques, including maintaining a false identity, surveillance, persuasion and recruitment. The programme's psychological challenges, dramatic tension, high production values, and personable cast led to its being called 'the most addictive thing on TV at the moment' by The Daily Telegraph. The series further develops a format that first appeared in the Wall to Wall television productions Spymaster (2002; UK) and Spymaster USA (2003; USA). SPY: A Handbook, a companion book written by Harry Ferguson, a trainer featured on the show, was published in 2004 by Bloomsbury in the UK (ISBN 0-7475-7523-1).

Candidates and competition

Over 5,000 candidates from across the United Kingdom applied to be on the show. The candidates were narrowed down to a pool of eight recruits before the start of the show. As the show progressed, recruits who failed to demonstrate sufficient potential as agents were unceremoniously dismissed from the competition. In the final episode, Nicola Jackson emerged as the winner, but there was no prize other than the satisfaction of knowing that they had what it takes to be a real spy. The recruits, in alphabetical order, were: The three experts, called their "tutors", who devised the training missions, trained the recruits, and evaluated their performance were: Additional training was conducted by John Potter, and narration was provided by Paul Brightwell.

Episodes

Ten hour-long episodes were originally produced. The show was then recut into a series of 15 half-hour episodes. Broadcasters in some markets air the original series, while broadcasters in other markets air the other. Summaries published for the original ten episodes follow: