While it’s been a bit since I’ve been able find the proper place to admit in public that Spooks (MI-5 as it was known in America) was, and still is, the best show on television, the forthcoming theatrical release of Spooks: The Greater Good provides the perfect opportunity. For ten years (2002-2011), Peter Firth as Sir Harry Pearce, the fictional head of the Counter-Terrorism department, or Section D, of MI5, did his best to make the streets of London as safe as humanly possible from international threats that, many times, resembled the all-to-real headlines of the day.

For Harry Pearce, it’s just another day at the office. During a handover to the head of counter-terrorism of MI5, high-profile terrorist Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel) escapes from MI5 custody. Pearce, forced to resign, disappears off a bridge into the Thames. Harry’s protégé, Will Holloway (Game of Thrones‘ Kit Harington), is brought in from Moscow and is given the unenviable task to foil a bomb threat from Qasim and uncover the truth surrounding his former mentor. Holloway eventually uncovers a conspiracy that runs from Vietnam to the Mediterranean.

Firth said it ‘felt good’ to become re-acquainted with Sir Harry. “I keep him in the closet so I bring him out every time they need him,” he said, with a smile. He also feels that fans of the series will be excited to see the show’s transition to the big screen. “We set a benchmark with the TV show. I think we created a new level of TV drama and we are hopeful to do this for this film. So it’s the same deal but bigger. We’.ve worked really hard to make the transition and not to emulate anything that’s out there. There are some obvious comparisons of the same genre in this country, but we’re not going there. We’re very happy with it and we’re excited to show it to everyone.”

Spooks: The Greater Good is set to open on 8 May in the UK. No word yet as to a possible American release