# Spy (2011)

> An underachieving single father accidentally becomes an MI5 agent and must hide his secret job while fighting his ex-wife for custody of their son.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/38203

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 17
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Simeon Goulden
- Network: Sky One
- Cast: Mark Heap, Dolly Wells, Miles Jupp, Ed Coleman, Terence Maynard, Mathew Baynton, Darren Boyd, Jude Wright
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2086606/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, farcical, warm, comforting, irreverent

## What critics say

Audiences rated the series positively, with the second season judged clearly stronger than the first.

## Synopsis

Spy (2011-2012) is a British comedy series created by Simeon Goulden for Sky One. Mark Heap plays Phillip, an underachieving single father who inadvertently becomes an MI5 agent and must keep his government job hidden while battling his ex-wife Judith (Dolly Wells) for custody of their precocious son. Miles Jupp plays Owen, a colleague whose dealings with Phillip keep the secret under strain, and Darren Boyd appears as Tim among the office staff. The engine of the show is mundane domestic pressure colliding with espionage: a school pickup missed for a classified job, a lie told to a custody mediator, a gadget that backfires in the kitchen. Each episode is a short, brisk British sitcom of around twenty-two minutes, and the run spans two seasons and seventeen episodes in a single continuing storyline. The tone is breezy, farcical and warm, with a sincere affection for its flawed father. Fans of Get Smart and Chuck will find resonance in its bumbling spy comedy and its family-centred heart.

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