Jump to content

My Spy Family

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My Spy Family
GenreAction
Family sitcom
Created byPaul Alexander
Written by
Directed by
  • Dominic MacDonald
  • Tom Poole
  • David Sant
  • Angelo Abela
  • Frank W. Smith
Starring
ComposerGlenn Keiles
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes46
Production
Executive producers
  • Anne Brogan and Connal Orton (for Kindle Entertainment)
  • Daniel Lennard and Cecilia Persson (for Cartoon Network Europe)
Producer
  • Bernard Krichefski
Production locationBatley
CinematographyFrancis De Groote
Dave Parker
EditorsMike Eccles
James MacMillan
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time22 minutes approx. (per episode)
Production companiesKindle Entertainment
Turner Broadcasting System Europe
Original release
NetworkBoomerang
Release1 September 2007 (2007-09-01) –
23 January 2010 (2010-01-23)

My Spy Family is a British live-action family comedy series created by Paul Alexander that aired from 2007 to 2010. The series was a co-production between Kindle Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting System Europe, with Decode Enterprises handling distribution.[1] The series aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the UK, TG4 in Ireland, Panda Biggs in Portugal, and Cartoon Network in France, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Romania, and South Africa. All the music was written by Glenn Keiles, excluding some songs heard in the "Intelligence Agency Cafe", which were co-written with other songwriters.

Plot synopsis

[edit]

When master spy Dirk Bannon fell in love with his Russian arch rival, Natalia Knockemoff, things could only get complicated. Now they've been decommissioned, and are supposed to be living a normal life with their three children – Spike, the wannabe secret agent; Elle, happily retired; and a rather odd Boris. But can this family ever be normal? Not when you've got parents with a license to embarrass.

— Opening Narration

The show is about the Bannon family, who all have strong spy links. The parents, Dirk and Talia, were once arch enemies and enemy spies but fell in love and got married. They now have three children (Spike, Elle, and Boris), who have all been brought up with spy techniques as a matter of course. Spike's friend Travis (played by Richard Sargent) is commonly seen on the show.

The action is based in three major locations – the Bannon home, the children's school and the local café, which is run by Des, Dirk's former personal ordnance officer (gadget master).

Characters

[edit]

Main characters

[edit]
  • Dirk Bannon (portrayed by Milo Twomey) is a British former spy. He is married to his former arch-rival, Talia, a Russian spy. Dirk is usually a pushover to his wife and is somewhat more incompetent at being a spy than she is. Together, they have three children: Spike, Elle, and Boris. He is best friends with Des, his former personal ordnance officer (gadget master). He is rarely seen wearing something other than a tuxedo.
  • Talia Bannon (portrayed by Natasha Beaumont) is the Russian arch-rival of Dirk, who later fell in love and married him, before retiring. As seen in a few episodes she has better fighting techniques as well as better spying techniques than her husband. She also tends to add the suffix "-sky" to words she says, such as referring to herself as "Mumsky." She is also a master of disguise. In "The Back in Batley Affair," she introduces herself as Natalia Alexandrina Vladimir Knockemoff-Bannon after being put in charge of the Intelligence Agency Cafe after Des, the owner, is written out of Series 3.
  • Spike Bannon (portrayed by Joe Tracini) is the eldest offspring of Dirk and Talia. Spike is an expert at creating various spy gadgets. Many times, it is shown that he, along with his best friend, Travis, tries to sabotage any plans or simply make a fool of his geography teacher, Mr. Vong, with whom he does not get along well due to Spike's schemes.
  • Elle Bannon (portrayed by Alice Connor) is the middle child of Dirk and Talia. Like her mother, she also has very good combat skills and spy techniques. She is often seen hanging out with her friends Donna and Marcy at school and is often at odds with her brother Spike. Talia says there is a 7% chance that she is heir to the throne of Russia.
  • Boris Bannon (portrayed by Ignat Pakhotin) is the youngest offspring of Dirk and Talia. He is an expert in setting booby traps and hiding. Though he is a member of the family, he is treated as the most unnoticeable character in the show. He is not often shown and rarely speaks, but when he does, it is in Russian, which no one seems to understand except Talia. He is written out of series 3 in the opener, "The Back in Batley Affair," which describes him as ruling Russia as he looks like the former ruler, which makes Talia proud. However, he eventually returns in "The Boris Bounces Back Affair,"

Recurring characters

[edit]
  • Des (portrayed by Vas Blackwood) is Dirk's former Personal Ordnance Officer (gadget-master). He has since retired and opened the local Intelligence Agency Cafe, though his kitchen has many various types of gadgets which become useful during spy missions. He is best friends with Dirk, though they occasionally don't get along. He has also shown interest in Talia. Like Boris, he is also written out of season 3, who has gone to Bermuda for a year after he is elected honorary president of the World Shark Surfing Federation, putting Talia in charge.
  • Travis Mitchell (portrayed by Richard Sargent) is Spike's best friend. He is very loyal to Spike and is always willing to help him.
  • Mr. Ernest Vong (portrayed by Ramon Tikaram) is the school's geography teacher who seems to have the most authority. Spike sees Vong as an adversary, who schemes and pranks against him to get what he wants (which always fails), making Vong greatly dislike Spike, although he has no ill feelings for the rest of his family. It is hinted that he is Indian, as there is a map of India in his classroom. In the episode "The Mum's The Word Affair", it is revealed that he lives with his mother, who in turn revealed his first name.
  • Donna Jacobs (portrayed by Cascade Brown) is a close friend of Elle and is mostly seen hanging out with her and Marcy. Donna is obsessed with fashion, and boyfriends and wishes to be a model. Talia often comments that she will be unable to be a model or have boyfriends due to her ankles.
  • Marcy Desmond (portrayed by Kirsty Leigh Porter) is a shy friend of Elle and is mostly seen hanging out with Elle and Donna. Most of the time it is observed that she is the exact opposite of Donna since she has no fashion sense nor has any boyfriend.
  • Mike Quiller (portrayed by Dan Li) is a former MI5 office boy, who Talia hires to help out after Des has left and gone to Bermuda for a year to be honorary president of the World Shark Surfing Federation. Mike is a big fan of Dirk.

Episodes

[edit]

Season 1 (2007)

[edit]
No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"The Lock-In Affair"Tom PooleDaniel Peak1 September 2007 (2007-09-01)
22"The Friends Disunited Affair"Dominic MacDonaldPaul Alexander8 September 2007 (2007-09-08)
33"The Dirky Dancing Affair"Tom PoolePaul Alexander15 September 2007 (2007-09-15)
44"The Charity Begins at Home Affair"Dominic MacDonaldPaul Alexander22 September 2007 (2007-09-22)
55"The Bullets Over Batley Affair"Dominic MacDonaldMark Robertson29 September 2007 (2007-09-29)
66"The Prefect Storm Affair"Tom PoolePaul Alexander6 October 2007 (2007-10-06)
77"The Tenth Flask Affair"Tom PooleDaniel Peak13 October 2007 (2007-10-13)
88"The Truffles Are Forever Affair"Tom PooleBrian Lynch20 October 2007 (2007-10-20)
99"The 'Up Horoscope!' Affair"Dominic MacDonaldTrevor Neal and Simon Hickson27 October 2007 (2007-10-27)
1010"The Inspector Foils Affair"Tom PooleJulie Gearey4 November 2007 (2007-11-04)
1111"The Vladimir Spensky Affair"Tom PooleDaniel Peak10 November 2007 (2007-11-10)
1212"The Spy Who Didn't Quite Love Me Enough Affair"Dominic MacDonaldMark Robertson17 November 2007 (2007-11-17)
1313"The Albovian Affair Affair"Dominic MacDonaldPaul Alexander24 November 2007 (2007-11-24)

Season 2 (2008)

[edit]
No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
141"The Love Is the Drug Affair"Angelo AbelaJoe Williams6 September 2008 (2008-09-06)
152"The Des Res Affair"David SantPaul Alexander13 September 2008 (2008-09-13)
163"The Quiz Night Affair"David SantTrevor Neal and Simon Hickson20 September 2008 (2008-09-20)
174"The Batley's Got Talent Affair"Frank W. SmithPaul Alexander27 September 2008 (2008-09-27)
185"The Live and Let Dine Affair"Angelo AbelaPaul Alexander4 October 2008 (2008-10-04)
196"The Talia's Day Affair"David SantConnal Orton11 October 2008 (2008-10-11)
207"The Persuasion Affair"Frank W. SmithChris Reddy18 October 2008 (2008-10-18)
218"The Knowledge Is Power Affair"David SantGary Lawson and John Phelps25 October 2008 (2008-10-25)
229"The Stroganoff Night Affair"Frank W. SmithTrevelyan Evans1 November 2008 (2008-11-01)
2310"The Laughing Lord Affair"David SantTrevor Neal and Simon Hickson8 November 2008 (2008-11-08)
2411"The Mum's the Word Affair"Frank W. SmithPaul Alexander15 November 2008 (2008-11-15)
2512"The Who's the Daddy Affair"Frank W. SmithPaul Alexander22 November 2008 (2008-11-22)
There is a misunderstanding with Spike's birth certificate, which leads him to believe Mr. Vong is his real father.
2613"The Bum Deal Affair"David SantPaul Alexander29 November 2008 (2008-11-29)

Season 3 (2009–10)

[edit]
No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
271"The Back in Batley Affair"Dominic MacDonaldPaul Alexander5 September 2009 (2009-09-05)
After coming back from their summer holiday, the Bannons find that things have changed; Boris has become the new ruler of Russia, Travis has a new best friend who's a Battlestar Galactica fanatic, and Des has gone to Bermuda for a year, leaving Talia in charge of his cafe.
282"The Des Mondi Code Affair"Tom PoolePaul Alexander12 September 2009 (2009-09-12)
293"The 1950s Affair"Dominic MacDonaldTrevor Neal and Simon Hickson19 September 2009 (2009-09-19)
304"The Cammy Loves Spikey Affair"Tom PoolePaul Alexander26 September 2009 (2009-09-26)
315"The Chat Show Affair"Dominic MacDonaldDaniel Peak3 October 2009 (2009-10-03)
326"The Back Scratch Affair"Tom PooleTrevelyan Evans and Paul Alexander10 October 2009 (2009-10-10)
337"The Spy Pod Affair"Tom PoolePaul Alexander and Clare Trenholm17 October 2009 (2009-10-17)
348"The Hoop Loop Snoop Affair"Tom PooleTrevor Neal and Simon Hickson24 October 2009 (2009-10-24)
359"The Black Widows Affair"Dominic MacDonaldPaul Alexander31 October 2009 (2009-10-31)
3610"The Fakers & Adders Affair"Dominic MacDonaldPaul Alexander and Clare Trenholm7 November 2009 (2009-11-07)
3711"The Trophy Affair"David SantMark Oswin and James Griffiths14 November 2009 (2009-11-14)
3812"The Election Affair"Angelo AbelaGary Lawson and John Phelps21 November 2009 (2009-11-21)
3913"The Schoolboy Spy Affair"Dominic MacDonaldTrevor Neal and Simon Hickson28 November 2009 (2009-11-28)
4014"The Awful Aunty Affair"Angelo AbelaGlen Dolman5 December 2009 (2009-12-05)
4115"The Thick-Skinned Spike Affair"Dominic MacDonaldTrevor Neal and Simon Hickson12 December 2009 (2009-12-12)
4216"The Mothers in the Hood Affair"Angelo AbelaPaul Alexander19 December 2009 (2009-12-19)
4317"The Cheating Affair"David SantMatthew Broughton2 January 2010 (2010-01-02)
4418"The Boris Bounces Back Affair"Angelo AbelaPaul Alexander9 January 2010 (2010-01-09)
4519"The Pen Is Mightier Affair"David SantPaul Alexander16 January 2010 (2010-01-16)
4620"The Brought to Book Affair"Angelo AbelaPaul Alexander23 January 2010 (2010-01-23)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "DHX MEDIA SECURES DISTRIBUTIONS RIGHTS FOR MY SPY FAMILY". WildBrain.com. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
[edit]