M.I. High

M.I. High
File:M.I High Tiltle Card.jpg Top: Series 3-5 title card Bottom: Series 6-present title card
Created by	Keith Brumpton
Directed by	Richard Mark Elson Toby Haynes Simon Hook Mat King Zam Salim
Starring	Chris Stanton (1—) Jonny Freeman (3—) Chanelle Owen(3-5,7-) Oyiza Momoh (6—) Sam Strike (6—) Oscar Jacques (6—) Julia Brown (7—)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	7
No. of episodes	88 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer	Alison Jackson
Running time	Approx. 28 minutes 55 mins (series 7, episode 12)
Production company	Kudos
Original release
Network	CBBC & CBBC HD, BBC One
Release	Original series: 7 January 2007 (2007-01-07) – 21 August 2011 Revived series: 7 January 2013 – present

M.I. High is a BBC children's spy-fi adventure series. It was produced for the BBC by the independent production company Kudos, who also produced the hit BBC spy drama Spooks. It follows in the success of the Young Bond and the Alex Rider series of books and films. M.I. High is recorded in high definition and is shown on the CBBC Channel and CBBC Outputs on BBC One and BBC Two. M.I. High is also shown on the BBC HD Channel. The series also frequently airs in Australia on ABC3. As of October 2012 the series began airing on the UKTV channel Watch.

Premise

The series following the adventures of four secondary school pupils who work as undercover spies. The spies are led by M.I.9 agent Frank London (Jonny Freeman) and working undercover as the school caretaker. All other spies' covers have been rumbled and the only spies left undercover are those still being trained, including those still in school. Their base is 230 ft below the school, they enter the base by sliding a light switch across which reveals a finger print scanner lock. They enter the caretaker's store room, pull a broom which turns the floor into a high-speed lift which changes the spies' clothing and hairstyles. The identity of the overarching villains across Series 1-5, The Grand Master, and Series 6, The Mastermind remains a mystery within the show. The team must constantly save the world from domination by a variety of villains, hide their spy identities from their teachers and peers, and complete their school work.

Original Series Production

Writing

Producer of the series Kerry Appleyard revealed that the concept for the show came from the creator and writer of the show Keith Brumpton who had the idea it would be fun to do a kids spy show and worked on the concept that kids find it very hard to keep secrets. MI5 and MI6 did not want the production team to uses their names in the television program but did allow them to use the name of the now defunct MI9 which back in World War II was in charge of covert operations in the UK and overseas and created various gadgets. Producer Kerry Appleyard thought that it was appropriate because the show has a lot of fantastic gadgets.

Casting

Series One and Two cast from left: Rose, Blane & Daisy.

When the auditions were held for the main characters of M.I. High, leaflets were sent out to schools and over a thousand kids were seen and Toby Haynes (Director), the Director had to pick three or four main characters. When auditions for the part of Daisy Miller they had a hundred children that day to audition. Bel Powley was in the middle of the crowd looking around and she caught Toby Haynes's (Director) eye when she was sitting down on the floor and he thought she had confidence, that quality in daisy is exactly what he was looking for in the actress and bel was that person.

Rachel Petladwala heard about the audition through the leaflet that was read out in her assembly. She and her friends thought they might as well have a go when she got the part she was astonished. In the audition for Rose Gupta the actress noticed that Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was spelt wrong in the script and she told the Director (Toby Haynes) and the director immediately knew she was right for the role.

In the audition for the part of Blane Whittaker, Moustafa Palazli came in had a fringe that covered his eyes and the Director (Toby Haynes) thought he had a lot of charisma. Moustafa went to the audition with an attitude if go it, got it and if he didn't he didn't really mind. When he got to the fourth/fifth stage and he thought if he doesn't get it now he wouldn't be very happy since he had came that far in the audition and when he got the part he couldn't believe it.

The main challenge according to Director (Toby Haynes) was taking school children and turning them into actors. The child actors had acting coaching the director said this is what gave them the confidence to go ahead with filming.

Filming

M.I. High is filmed in a real school, the M.I. High base is built in one of the school halls with additional any scenes that requires a stage being filmed in another hall. The classroom are not built they use the actual real classrooms to make it feel more real.

On the first day Rachel was scared of messing up her line and Moustafa was nervous, he didn't know that one scene could take so long to film. In the first episode "The Sinister Prime Minister" in a scene where Moustafa back flips a stunt double is used, Moustafa had two - one hour training sessions with stunt person that taught him backflip positions.

Revival

2013

After a 16 month break, M.I. High was renewed for a sixth series in early 2013. The first broadcast of the show was aired on the CBBC channel on Monday 7 January 2013. Jonny Freeman was still playing his part as Frank London, the school caretaker and the head of the M.I. High project but was joined by four new characters: Zoe (Natasha Watson), Aniesha Jones (Oyiza Momoh), Dan Morgan (Sam Strike) and Tom Tupper (Oscar Jacques.) The M.I. High project has been moved to a new school called Bleakwood Academy but first episode it is later renamed as Saint Heart's. However, in series 7 episode 2 St Hearts celebrates its centenary, suggesting that the year before they restored its previous name. With the character of Rose (Rachel Petladwala) leaving at the end of series 5, Mr. Flatley (Chris Stanton) is now the only character to appear in all of the series as the Headmaster of both schools that hosted the M.I. High project.

2014

In December 2013, a two minute trailer for Series 7 was released, showing various clips from Series 7. It confirmed the appearance of agents Tom Tupper, Dan Morgan,and (former) agent Zoe is not in series 7 but one of her sisters Keri has come, Aneisha Jones, Frank and Stella; and the student/staff appearances of Mr. Flatley, Mrs. King, Roly, and two new students, Preston and Lady J. Byron and Melissa did not appear in the trailer and where probably replaced by the two new pupils. "M.I. High - Sneak Peek Series 7". BBC. The trailer confirmed the reappearance of Mrs King, the former Deputy Head of Saint Hope's during the original series. In episode 1, it was revealed that she has replaced Mr McNab as Deputy Head of Saint Heart's, and that she is Aneisha's aunt. The 7th series is now oover and no information has been given about any apect of an 8th.

Current Cast

Main article: List of M.I. High characters

Main

Series Seven cast from left Keri, Dan, Aneisha & Tom.

• Aneisha Jones (Saint Heart's Student and M.I.9 Spy, Series 6-), played by Oyiza Momoh. Aniesha Jones is a field agent with Dan and Zoe. She fights KORPS, and is the master of disguise in the group.In episode 1, Series 7, we find out the Anisha is Mrs. King's niece.

• Dan Morgan (Saint Heart's Student and M.I.9 Spy, Series 6-), played by Sam Strike. Daniel Morgan is a very good field agent with Zoe and Aniesha. He and Zoe are attracted to each other, as shown especially in episodes 9 and 13, Series 6, where he risks his life to save her. Melissa Allbright has a crush on him but he doesn't feel the same as he has feelings [like zoe and her sister keri] for Zoe .

• Tom Tupper (Saint Heart's Student and M.I.9 Spy, Series 6-) played by Oscar Jacques. Tom is the gadget boy of the group, he usually stays behind at base and guides the others through their missions, eating biscuits. He has a very sarcastic sense of humour. In episode 2,series 6, Tom sent a voice message to Roly using a voice modificator, to make it sound like Anisha saying, 'I love You'. This resulted in Anisha claiming that 'i'm going to dedicate the rest off my life getting you back' and which Tom responded 'I expect nothing less.'In one episode, The Germinator, he goes out and has to save the day, as the rest of the team are critically ill. Apparently it was 'way too dangerous'.

• Keri Summers (Saint Heart's Student and M.I.9 Spy, Series 7-), played by Julia Brown. Keri works well with Dan Tom and Aniesha and all are friends. She is a clone of The Mastermind originally named J:4:5:K:3:R:1, and is effectively Zoe's 'sister'. She becomes an agent in episode 1 of series seven and is Zoe's replacement. It is revealed in episode 1 of series seven that she received special treatment by KORPS that makes her ideal as a host of The Mastermind's consciousness, but KORPS threw her out, believing that it was unsuccessful. She, along with another clone, J:6:3:L:1:B:1 (Libi) received the treatment. Libi was found working for KORPS as a scientist, not knowing about her true purpose. She was later placed with a foster family by M.I.9 in episode 1 of series seven.

Supporting

• Frank London (Saint Hope's / Saint Heart's Caretaker / M.I. High's Supervising Agent, Series 3-) Played by Jonny Freeman is an M.I.9 agent deep undercover posing as Saint Heart's School's caretaker. Frank is also the father figure to all of his agents, especially Oscar Cole and Zoe. It seemed that in the beginning of Series 6, Frank used to date Stella (M.I.9 Head Agent) and in episode 13, it's revealed that they hadn't gotten over each other and shared a spontaneous kiss.

• Stella Knight (Ex-Head of MI9) Played by Rebecca Palmer was the head of MI9, from series 6 episode 1 until series 7 episode 9 when she was found out to be part of the secret league in MI9 (the league of matahari) she was the one whose idea it was to kidnap the Minister of defence. She later appears in episode 12, when she, frank, and the team are escaping.

• Hamish Campbell (Ex Head of MI9 Stationery / Head of MI9, Series 7-) Played by Finn Den Hertog. When the MI High team are investigating the League of Matahari they find a ten year old video of Hamish speaking of his investigation into the League. Before his investigation he was known as one of MI9's best agents. Aneisha even mentions that he managed to outsmart the Russian Embassy using wool from his jumper. After the investigation he was stood down as an agent. The story was that he was permanently affected by a paranoia serum on a mission, tried to get into the League but was turned down and saw conspiracies everywhere (an effect of the serum). This turns out to be false after the MI High team discover the truth about the League. After the League of Matahari was disbanded a new Head of MI9 was needed. After Frank refuses the job, Aneisha puts Hamish forward as he was the only one who stood up to the League from the beginning. He gladly accepts the job and there becomes the Head of MI9.

• Kenneth Armstrong Flatley (Saint Hope's/Saint Hearts' Headmaster Series 1-), played by Chris Stanton. He is unaware of the spying activities along with much else that happens in the school. He is the only character to appear in all 7 of the series. In series 6, when Mr Flatley gets locked up he appears to think Stella has a good relationship with Frank.

• The Mastermind (KORPS Super Villain, Series 6-Series 7 ) the mastermind is killed when the grandmaster escapes and takes over KORPS and imprisons the Crime Minister , voiced by Brian Cox (Series 6), Gavin Mitchell (Series 7-present). The leader of KORPS. His consciousness was uploaded into a computer in order to cheat death and various cloned using his DNA were created in order to house his consciousness. He only ever appears onscreen as a digital interface in KORPS HQ, or in his neuron containment case. He, his deputy The Crime Minister, and KORPS were thought to have been defeated over ten years ago by M.I.9, but they survived and rose again in Series 6. The Grand Master was once a KORPS captain, but sold them out to M.I.9 so that he could run away and assume control of S.K.U.L., an old KORPS division. KORPS attempted to upload his consciousness into one of his clones, Zoe, thinking that she was a successful clone, but failed as she was not a match. He now seeks clones Keri and Libi in order to create two copies of himself, rendering KORPS unbeatable.

• The Crime Minister (KORPS Super Villain, Series 6-seies 7 ), played by Pollyanna McIntosh. The Mastermind's sever second-in-command. She is incredibly loyal to The Mastermind and was presumed dead after the end of the first war with KORPS. She is generally seen in command of KORPS due to The Mastermind's condition. Until he dies and the grandmaster takes over and imprisons the Crime Minister

Episodes

Main article: List of M.I. High episodes

Original Series (2007-2011)

Series		Episodes	Original Air Dates
			Series premiere	Series finale
	1	10	8 January 2007	5 March 2007
	2	13	7 January 2008	24 March 2008
	3	13	5 January 2009	30 March 2009
	4	13	4 January 2010	15 March 2010
	5	13	10 January 2011	21 March 2011

Revived Series (2013-Present)

Series		Episodes	Original Air Dates
			Series premiere	Series finale
	6	13	7 January 2013	25 March 2013
	7	13	13 January 2014	31 March 2014

International broadcasts and syndication

List of broadcasters

Country	TV Network(s)	Translation
Australia	ABC3
Belgium	Ketnet
France	BBC France
Hungary	Cartoon Network	Kémsuli
Italy	Rai Gulp	Scuola di spie (School of Spies)
Mexico South America	HBO Family	Escuela de espías
Norway	NRK Super	Escuela de espías
Peru	Yups Channel	Escuela de espías
Poland	Cartoon Network	S.A.W. Szkolna Agencja Wywiadowcza (School Intelligence Agency)
Qatar	JeemTV	ثانوية الاستخبارات
Sweden	Sveriges Television
Turkey	Kidz TV
United Kingdom	CBBC

• Also broadcasts in Asia on HBO Family.

Awards and Nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Outcome	Notes
2008	Royal Television Society	Best Children's Drama	Won
2009	Royal Television Society	Best Children's Drama	Nomination

Merchandise

Books

Books have been released including three novels, a survival handbook and a 2012 annual.

Book	Year published	Publisher	Cover photo	Notes
M. I. High: A New Generation	31 January 2008	Puffin Books	A Split Picture of Rose, Blane and Daisy.	Paperback
M. I. High: Secrets & Spies	31 January 2008	Puffin Books	A Split Picture of Rose, Blane and Daisy.	Paperback
MI High: Spy Survival Handbook	31 January 2008	Puffin Books	Rose, Blane and Daisy in M.I High Headquarters.	Paperback
M.I. High Annual 2012	1 August 2011	Egmont Books Ltd	Carrie, Oscar and Rose running.	Hardcover
MI High: Race Against Time	1 January 2015	Puffin Books	A Split Picture of Daisy, Blane and Rose.	Paperback (Originally planned for March 2008)
MI High: Dangerous Games	29 January 2015	Puffin Books	A Split Picture of Rose, Blane and Daisy.	Paperback (Originally planned for March 2008)

One novel was written, but never published. "The Midas Machine", written by Dan Roberts was planned to be released 2 January 2012 by Egmont Books Ltd but never was.

Comic

Release name	Release date	Author	Publisher	Notes	Ref
Totally… M.I. High	27 January 2011(UK)	Caryn Jenner	Titan Magazines

DVD release

The first series of M.I. High was scheduled to be released on DVD in two five-episode installments. The first of which was released on 21 January 2008 and the second was to follow on 31 March 2008 but was cancelled indefinitely, the rest of the DVD collection has been suspended indefinitely. The first DVD includes a documentary about the series (which is made up of various short clips show during the series on CBBC Extra).

DVD release name	Episodes	Years of series	UK release date (Region 2)	North American release date (Region 1)	Australian release date (Region 4)
M.I High: Series 1 Vol 1	S1 Ep 1-5	2007	21 January 2008	N/A	2 March 2010

iTunes releases

MI High Series 1-3 has released digitally on iTunes Australia and Germany, they are presently in Standard-definition. Series 1-3 is also available in France, they are presently in Standard-definition.

Netflix releases

Netflix UK has released Series 1 on their streaming service and they are present in High-definition.

M.I. High games

Whack The Mole!

Starting at the beginning of series two there was a new interactive web experience that could be found at the show's web site. The game was created by Xenophile Media. After gaining access to the Flash-based game with a registration process, players could participate in weekly missions. The missions were tied in with events occurring on the show each week, but the game included video clips that summarised each episode which made it possible for people outside of the broadcast area to play the game as well.

The plot of the game centered around the fictional St. Hope's High School which was the basis of the television programme. There was a mole - self-entitled as 'The Mole' - amongst the students, and it was the job of the player to try to figure out who the rogue agent was. At the successful end of each mission, the list of suspects was narrowed down automatically through the process of elimination by using numerous clues that would be discovered about The Mole's identity (e.g. One clue was that The Mole wore a specific kind of voice-changer that would be placed over one's teeth, people with braces can't wear the voice-changer, therefore all suspects that have braces are eliminated).

The user interface included the Digital Operations Research Assistant (D.O.R.A), which guided players to manipulate various technological tools including a geographic locator and an audio analyzer. Players were given instructions about how to use each of the tools in order to successfully pass the missions.

When a player completed the game, they would discover that The Mole was Suspect Number 9: Panda Strobel and that her secret lair was located in the basement of the abandoned Battersea Power Station situated on the south bank of the River Thames.

When the second M.I. High game Catch The Grand Mistress was released, Whack The Mole! was still available for gameplay alongside Catch The Grand Mistress.

As of January 2014, this game is no longer available for game play as it has been removed from the show's website.

Catch The Grand Mistress

For series 4 and 5, Whack The Mole was relaunched to tie in with the new series. The objective was to locate and capture The Grand Mistress, the main antagonist of Series 4, Episode 2, "The Bunny Whisperer" and Series 5, Episode 2, "The B-Team." Each week, missions would be unlocked and information would be released in each mission to allow the player to eliminate possible bases, which would result in the correct base being located by the end of the game through the process of elimination. Various clues about The Grand Mistress' mistress plan were also scattered throughout the game. For the new game, the graphics were modified and updated, but retained the same high-tech look. D.O.R.A. and the SpyPod were also present in the new game.

When a player completed the game, they would discover that her secret lair was located in the Kingsway Telephone Exchange and that her mistress plan was to build a particle accelerator to create everlasting batteries for her hypnotic children's toy, the Whoozle Top, not to create a black hole underneath London as the agents first thought.

As of January 2014, this game is no longer available for game play as it has been removed from the show's website.

Spy Skills

For the 2013 relaunch of M.I.High, a new game was launched to tie in with the new series. The objective is to complete missions in different areas of intelligence. The games and their corresponding agents are as follows:

• Dan: 'Codename: Scramble' (complete missions scaling walls of buildings to escape KORPS agents)
• Aneisha: 'Undercover Ops' (use a CAT device to collect items needed by Aneisha to infiltrate KORPS)
• Tom: 'Intel. Interception' (use a radial data scanner to decode messages being transmitted by KORPS)
• Zoe: 'Surveillance Set-Up' (plant tracking devices near KORPS)

External links

• M.I. High at BBC Online
• M.I. High at Kudos Kudos Film and Television
• M.I. High at IMDb

Oversea Broadcasters

• M.I. High at BBC (France)
• M.I. High at Sveriges Television (Sweden)
• M.I. High at JeemTV (Qatar)
• M.I. High at ABC Television (Australia)
• M.I. High at Ketnet (Belgium)
• M.I. High at HBO Family (Asia)

References

EXTRAS: Barry Malone Lauren McGarvey