Best tv shows like Spooks
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Tense drama series about the different challenges faced by the British Security Service as they work against the clock to safeguard the nation. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, exciting, tense, rough, suspenseful, crime drama, political, bleak, fast
Best tv shows and movies like Spooks (2002):
Similar in 86%
The Grid (2004)
Plot Summary:
A team of American and British counter-terrorists are tasked with stopping a terrorist cell who's operating on a global level.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 817
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA, Canada
Duration: 266 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 86%
La Femme Nikita (1997)
Plot Summary:
La Femme Nikita was a Canadian action/drama television series based on the French film Nikita by Luc Besson. The series was co-produced by Jay Firestone of Fireworks Entertainment and Warner Bros.. It was adapted for television by Joel Surnow. The series was first telecast in North America on the USA Network cable channel on January 13, 1997, and ran for five television seasons—until March 2001. The series was also aired in Canada on the over-the-air CTV Television Network. La Femme Nikita was the highest-rated drama on American basic cable during its first two seasons. It was also distributed in some other countries, and it continues to have a strong cult following.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, stylized, thrilling, fast, telenovela
Similar in 86%
24: Legacy (2016)
Plot Summary:
The story of military hero Eric Carter’s return to the U.S. and the trouble that follows him back – compelling him to ask CTU for help in saving his life, and stopping what potentially could be one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 41 min
Plot tags: serious, suspense, rough, detective, anime
Similar in 85%
Trigger Point (2022)
Plot Summary:
For London's bomb disposal experts, no day is ever the same as they risk their lives protecting the city from harm.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing, tension
Similar in 75%
XIII: The Series (2011)
Plot Summary:
After a plot to kill the president of the USA an agent with lost memories tries to recover his life and memories. Others use him to cover up some dirty business involving high ranking officials from the CIA and the White House.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, suspenseful, realistic, tense, fast
Similar in 85%
Deep State (2018)
Plot Summary:
What happens when a man who believes he has retired from MI6 is called back to do one more job to regain his life, only to discover that this job may mean he has no life to go back to.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, exciting, tense, suspense, suspenseful, action adventure, interesting
Similar in 76%
24: The Movie (2014)
Plot Summary:
Jack Bauer comes out of hiding in London to head off a massive terrorist attack while being hunted down by American forces dispatched by President James Heller.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 46 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, exciting, rough, bleak, political, detective, anime, clever, realistic
Similar in 88%
Berlin Station (2016)
Plot Summary:
A contemporary spy series that follows Daniel Miller, an undercover agent at the CIA station in Berlin, Germany.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, exciting, action adventure, mind blowing, interesting
Similar in 81%
The Agency (2001)
Plot Summary:
The Agency is a CBS television drama that followed the inner-workings of the CIA. The series was created by Michael Frost Beckner and was executive produced by Michael Frost Beckner, Shaun Cassidy Productions and Radiant Productions in association with Universal Network Television and CBS Productions. It aired from September 27, 2001 until May 17, 2003, lasting two seasons. It featured unprecedented filming from the actual CIA headquarters. The show was controversial regarding its exploration of current international affairs and its treatment of the ethical conflicts inherent in intelligence work. Beckner's pilot script, written in March 2001, posited a re-invented CIA tasked with a "War on Terror" after Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist organization plots a lethal attack on the west. The pilot was to premiere at CIA Headquarters on September 18, 2001 and set to air on CBS September 21, 2001, however, the actual 9/11 attacks convinced the network to hold the pilot and instead air a later episode. That first episode was aired later as the third episode of the first season. The September 11, 2001 terrorist events changed the way Americans viewed topical entertainment and "The Agency", at the time, was one of the most topical offering on network television. The producers of the series quickly responded to this new American perspective on world affairs, but CBS chose to cancel the show shortly after the second season's final episode.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, cerebral, exciting, serious
Similar in 90%
Mission: Impossible (1966)
Plot Summary:
Mission: Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force. In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill; Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, takes charge for the remaining seasons. A hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin. The series aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973, then returned to television for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990, retaining only Graves in the cast. It later inspired a popular series of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise, beginning in 1996.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, stylized, suspense, retro, action adventure, fast, cult classic
Similar in 79%
Covert Affairs (2010)
Plot Summary:
A young CIA operative, Annie Walker, is mysteriously summoned to headquarters for duty as a field operative. While Annie believes she's been promoted for her exceptional linguistic skills, there may be something or someone from her past that her CIA bosses are really after. Auggie Anderson is a CIA military intelligence agent who was blinded while on assignment and is Annie's guide in this world of bureaucracy, excitement and intrigue.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, heroic, detective, crime drama, political drama
Similar in 79%
Sleeper Cell (2005)
Plot Summary:
A chilling and unflinching look at all sides of a complicated issue, focusing on an African-American Muslim who joins an Islamic sleeper terrorist cell in the United States while working undercover for the FBI.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, captivating, suspenseful, erotic, detective, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
Legends (2014)
Plot Summary:
Working for the FBI's Deep Cover Operations division, Martin Odum can transform himself into a different person -- whether it's an assignment as a Serbian extremist, a corrupt Chicago police officer, a British special forces colonel, or a legendary computer hacker. But when he learns that his life, itself, may be a lie, he faces the demands of his job and a desire to solve the mystery of his identity. And given the choice between the two, Odum doesn't always make the right decision. From the producers of "Homeland," "Legends" is based on Robert Littell's award-winning book.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, realistic, detective, action adventure, gloomy
Similar in 87%
The Bureau (2015)
Plot Summary:
Within the DGSE (General Directorate for External Security), a department called the Office Of Legends (BDL) forms and remote pilot the most important agents of the French intelligence services: Clandestine. Immersion in hostile country, their mission is to identify individuals who may be recruited as sources of information. Operating "under caption", that is to say in a fabricated identity from scratch, they live for many years in a permanent duplicity. Our hero just returned from a clandestine mission six years in Damascus. But contrary to what is required by safety rules, he does not abandon his legend and the identity under which he lived in Syria, thus putting in danger the whole system.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, political thriller, serious, suspenseful, intelligent, interesting, french noir, political drama
Similar in 81%
Spy Game (2001)
Plot Summary:
Veteran spy Nathan Muir is on the verge of retiring from the CIA when he learns that his one-time protégé and close friend, Tom Bishop, is a political prisoner sentenced to die in Beijing. Although their friendship has been marred by bad blood and resentment, Muir agrees to take on the most dangerous mission of his career and rescue Bishop.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 165000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Japan, France, UK
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, suspenseful, stylized, rough, clever, political, political thriller, action thriller, psychological
Similar in 86%
Strike Back (2010)
Plot Summary:
The series follows John Porter, a former British Special Forces soldier, who is drafted back into service by Section 20, a fictional branch of the Secret Intelligence Service.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: heroic, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, erotic, sexy, dramatic
Similar in 83%
Spooks: The Greater Good (2015)
Plot Summary:
During a handover to the head of counter-terrorism of MI5, Harry Pearce, a terrorist escapes custody. When Harry disappears soon after, his protégé is tasked with finding out what happened as an impending attack on London looms, and eventually uncovers a deadly conspiracy.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, serious, suspenseful, suspense, action thriller, action adventure, fast, surprise ending, neo noir
Similar in 77%
NCIS: New Orleans (2014)
Plot Summary:
A drama about the local field office that investigates criminal cases affecting military personnel in The Big Easy, a city known for its music, entertainment and decadence.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, realistic, suspenseful, tense, detective
Similar in 80%
Nikita (2010)
Plot Summary:
Nikita will stop at nothing to expose and destroy Division, the secret U.S. agency who trained her as a spy and assassin.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, stylized, serious, realistic, thrilling, interesting
Similar in 81%
The Equalizer (1985)
Plot Summary:
The Equalizer is an American television series that ran for four seasons, initially on CBS, between 1985 and 1989. It stars Edward Woodward as a middle aged retired intelligence officer with a mysterious past who helps people in trouble. The show mixes ingredients from popular spy films and private investigator shows with violent realism. A film adaptation starring Denzel Washington was released in 2014.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, detective, neo noir
Similar in 83%
Alias (2001)
Plot Summary:
Sydney Bristow, an agent who has been tricked to believe she is working for the U.S. government, is actually working for a criminal organization named the Alliance of Twelve. Upon learning this, Sydney becomes a double agent for the real CIA.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, cliffhanger, heroic, detective, action thriller, action adventure, thrilling, stylized
Similar in 86%
Intelligence (2014)
Plot Summary:
A drama centered on a high-tech intelligence operative who is enhanced with a super-computer microchip in his brain, and the director of the elite government cyber-security agency who supports him.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, suspense, detective, stylized
Similar in 90%
Burn Notice (2007)
Plot Summary:
A formerly blacklisted spy uses his unique skills and training to help people in desperate situations.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, semi serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, detective, political, anime, grindhouse, crime drama
Similar in 75%
24 (2001)
Plot Summary:
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 195000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, cliffhanger, serious, stylized, realistic, suspenseful, rough, suspense, dramatic, crime drama
Similar in 75%
Rubicon (2010)
Plot Summary:
Rubicon is an American television series that centers on an intelligence analyst at a national think tank in New York City called the American Policy Institute, who discovers that he may be working with members of a secret society that manipulates world events on a grand scale.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, atmospheric, suspenseful, political, cliffhanger, mysterious, dramatic, intelligent, spooky
Similar in 76%
The Night Manager (2016)
Plot Summary:
Former British soldier Jonathan Pine navigates the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington where an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. To infiltrate the inner circle of lethal arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, Pine must himself become a criminal.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 100000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 358 min
Plot tags: serious, suspense, tense, tricky, realistic, suspenseful, political, neo noir, atmospheric, intellectual
Similar in 75%
The Americans (2013)
Plot Summary:
Set during the Cold War period in the 1980s, The Americans is the story of Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and their neighbor, Stan Beeman, an FBI Counterintelligence agent.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 109000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, captivating, atmospheric, suspenseful, dramatic, sexy, neo noir, political, dark
Similar in 76%
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
Plot Summary:
In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 290 min
Plot tags: clever, talky, serious, political thriller, realistic, suspenseful, contemplative, tense, atmospheric, thought provoking
Similar in 89%
NCIS (2003)
Plot Summary:
From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, a team of special agents investigates any crime that has a shred of evidence connected to Navy and Marine Corps personnel, regardless of rank or position.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 159000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, serious, detective, crime drama, suspense, semi serious, tense, cliffhanger, thrilling
Similar in 85%
Prison Break (2005)
Plot Summary:
Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 569000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, suspenseful, serious, rough, realistic, crime drama, thrilling, clever, enigmatic