Darren Boyd in Spy
Spy was a success that only the most clairvoyant of Sky executives could have predicted. While securing Robert Lindsay may give your comedy a little star power, it doesn't always end in the success Spy had.
The show centres around the sort of confusion that happens every day, after office worker Tim (he brilliant Darren Boyd) goes to a job interview thinking it’s for data input on to be offered the role of a trainee spy in MI5. Wait, that hasn’t happened to everyone else?
So, with Tim now a part of MI5, we follow him being taught by the brilliantly deranged Examiner and trying to cover up this new, exciting part of his life from his hideously precocious 11 year old son he so desperately wants to impress.
More than just a British version of Chuck with a few more laughs and less bullets, Spy managed to remain its own beast, despite its obvious similarities to the U.S drama.
With a nice mixture of slapstick and witty wordplay, the show became a real bright light in pre-watershed comedy, managing to be consistently snigger-inducing while remaining family friendly, something increasingly rare in the world of comedy.
The key to this is the fantastically unleashed Robert Lindsay as the loony Examiner. Constantly throwing ninja stars and grinning like the world’s most menacing idiot while spouting absolute nonsense with a stunning level of conviction, his is a brilliant presence and the perfect foil to Boyd’s bumbling fool.
Along with the fantastically verbose and middle-aged Marcus, the show’s motley crew was its biggest asset, consistently helping out scripts that may need a few more giggles putting in if the show’s to bear the test of time.
Boyd stole the limelight when it came to awards season though, picking up a BAFTA and a British Comedy Award for his role in the show, with Spy itself being nominated for the Best New Comedy Programme gong at the Comedy Awards.
With the expanded second series starting tonight, Sky will hope that the show can continue to grow and become one of its increasingly high profile comedy cornerstones.
Spy returns tonight on Sky 1 at 8:30pm.
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