I don’t normally go in for pant-wetting, but I can tell you that there’s definitely some leakage at the thought that series 7 of Spooks is almost upon us. Officially, all the Beeb will say is that episode one will screen sometime during the week beginning Saturday 25 October, but the excellent Ian Wylie lets the cat out of the bag today on his MEN blog, declaring opening night to be Monday. So the above date and time are a bit “E&OE” at the moment, but I think it’s a fair bet. I called the end of the last series the best hour of television I’ve ever watched, but it looks as if the new series is set to top even that.

Here‘s where you’ll find all our Spookiness.

As a lowly hack I don’t enjoy the luxury of invites to advanced screenings, but from what Ian writes my mouth is watering already [Enough bodily fluids already. Ed.]

Like him, I’ve always been impressed with the way Spooks continually manages to reinvent itself, keep itself fresh, and kill off major characters. Even as a young boy it used to bore me that you always knew the lead guys and gals would survive the guns, bombs, lasers, or whatever else they were faced with, simply because they had to be back next week to do it all again. It took the edge off. Well with Spooks it’s just about all edges and no middle. You never know who’s going to die, or leave, or suffer abominable torture (comfy chair, anyone? Soft cushion?) from one moment to the next. Brilliant stuff.

So what’s been happening since we left the spooks at the end of series six? The Beeb aren’t exactly giving much away (the Spooks website hasn’t been updated yet in preparation for the new series) and neither are those fortunate few who’ve already seen the first two episodes, but there are a few plot crumbs available.

There’ll be more Islamist terrorism and the re-emergence of Russia as a super power. Adam is back on the Grid, but Jo has disappeared. Harry’s old protégé, Lucas North, is dragged from his eight-year stint in a Russian prison, but after so long under their influence, can anyone really trust him?