The year is 2013. Thames House is gone and regional MI5 Field Offices have sprung up in its place. Are six young new recruits tough, moral and clever enough to protect Britain’s future…? Spooks: Code 9 is a new six-part drama for BBC Three, due to be broadcast in August 2008.

London has been evacuated following a nuclear bomb and the country’s power base has shifted north. In the wake of the attack, MI5 must completely restructure and establish field offices across the UK, working to gather intelligence from the very heart of local communities.

They need young, new officers on the ground - and fast. Luckily, Britain’s youth is more than up to the challenge and is fighting back from the attack with a new sense of patriotism, combined with the hedonism that comes from being face to face with their own mortality. It is members of this new generation of patriots who help make up MI5’s new Field Office 19.

“After the bomb, MI5 needed new officers with ability, dedication and potential on the streets as soon as possible,” explains producer Chris Fry. “The team rallied to this call and joined MI5 in the weeks following the bomb.

“With the exception of their team leader, none of them have been in the field for more than four months and they will continually find themselves in situations beyond their experience and training – they’ll only succeed through grit and determination.”

Led by experienced spook Hannah (Joanne Froggatt, Life On Mars) the rookie team is made up of Charlie (Liam Boyle, Drop Dead Gorgeous), a mathematician and genius problem solver, Rachel (Ruta Gedmintas, The Tudors), an ex-police officer with ambitions to be a leader, and Jez (Heshima Thompson, Prime Suspect: The Final Act), a new breed of spook altogether – a former criminal gone straight.

Vik (Christopher Simpson, Brick Lane) chose MI5 over a career in his family’s business, while Rob (Andrew Knott, The History Boys) was a junior doctor at the time of the bomb and Kylie (Georgia Moffett, Doctor Who) was a psychology student just back from her gap year.

“Nearly one year on from the bomb, Britain is starting to get back to something resembling normality,” says executive producer Karen Wilson.

“But, under the surface, there have been massive changes: terror warnings and security checkpoints are regular features of everyday life, and there’s a flourishing black market in everything from ID cards to anti-radiation drugs.

“This is the world of [spooks] Code 9 and it holds a whole new set of dangers for MI5’s young pretenders.”

Sarah Brandist, Commissioning Editor, Independent Drama says: “It’s brilliant to have the chance of looking into the future of Spooks with [spooks] Code 9 on BBC Three.

“The series promises to be as entertaining and action-packed as Spooks on BBC One has always been, whilst bringing a more maverick, younger perspective.”

Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC Three, says: “I’m hugely looking forward to seeing this new drama on BBC Three. I’m a big fan of Spooks and believe that this new show will bring a dynamic cast of young actors to BBC audiences.”

In line with BBC Three’s multi-platform strategy, Spooks: Code 9 will be accompanied by an exciting online extension, produced by Kudos and leading alternate reality game studio Six to Start.

The series will include a live alternate reality experience that provides a multi-dimensional setting for the show and allows viewers to explore and contribute to this changed world.

[spooks] Code 9 is a Kudos production, commissioned for BBC Three by Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, and supported by Screen Yorkshire. Created by David Wolstencroft and written by Cal Bedford, Howard Overman, Ben Schiffer, Tony Basgallop, James Moran, Cameron McAllister and Jack Lothian. Directed by Brendan Maher, Mat Whitecross and Toby Haynes, and produced by Chris Fry. Executive Producers are Simon Crawford Collins and Karen Wilson for Kudos Film and Television and Sarah Brandist and Eleanor Moran for the BBC.