We voted Spooks as our favourite show of 2008, mainly because, for the first time I think, it was consistent in its provision of seat-of-your-pants thrills. It really hit its stride, and carried on a gripping storyline all the way to an unbelievable climax. Who can forget Ros having to ‘take one for the team’, Jo trying to come to terms with everything that had gone on in the previous series, Adam’s death and Connie’s hissing snake wince at Harry? The good news is that series eight has just started filming. So what nuggets can we glean from the announcement?

For all our news, reviews and Spooks interviews (including a Peter Firth chat), go here.

I would love to be sitting here writing this able to tell you that Harry will survive, Jo will be ok and everything will be alright in the world of our MI5 agents, but unfortunately that isn’t the case.

I got a release through the other day saying that series eight had started filming and quickly scanned it for any morsels of plot detail or new characters. What was I thinking? All I got was this:

“Series seven was such a huge success, it managed to really capture the imagination of fans and critics alike, so this series we’re pushing ourselves even harder to stay ahead of the news agenda and keep viewers hooked. We have plenty of twists and turns up our sleeves and can’t wait to see the response from fans.”

That was from Simon Crawford Collins, Exec Producer at Kudos.

Then I got this from series producer, Chris Fry:

“I’m really relishing the challenge of maintaining Spooks’ reputation for gripping, fast-paced drama which keeps viewers guessing and glued to their seats.”

Bugger. Nothing. Not a bean. Not a shred. One line did get me thinking: Following the dramatic climax of series seven viewers will be on the edge of their seats, eagerly waiting to find out which of the country’s finest spies will return to their screens.

That seems to plant the idea that not everyone will be back, and when I say everyone I mean Harry. The last we saw he was being bundled into the back of a car boot by Russian people. In his end-of-year chat with me, Peter Firth did say that someone very unexpected will appear out of nowhere and save his bacon. I’m still pulling over possible unexpected people in my mind, but the announcement that series eight has started filming is just that – an announcement that series eight has started filming.