BBC Multimedia has today announced the development of a stealth action game inspired by the BAFTA award-winning TV show Spooks, which airs on the A&E Network in the US as MI5. The game is currently scheduled for release in the UK toward the end of this year and will feature all of the main characters from the show as well as a script from show writer Steve Bailie.

　　"The rich and engaging world of Spooks makes ideal material for a game," said Dave Lee, BBC Worldwide's director of multimedia. "Added to this, the support and contribution of the show's production team will help the development of a truly involving title that I expect to appeal to fans of the series as well as the wider computer-gaming community."

　　The game will see players assuming control of the main MI5 agents from the show as they attempt to thwart an international criminal conspiracy. Players will visit locales in the UK and abroad as they progress through the game completing a variety of missions, including surveillance, code-breaking, tailing suspects, and cracking criminal cells.

　　"As a TV producer it's thrilling to find an internationally successful show like Spooks starting to develop a life of its own," said Stephen Garret, joint MD of Kudos Film & Television, which produces the show for the BBC. "With its potential for stealth and complex problem solving, Spooks seems a natural for the world of computer gaming, a world that until now television drama propositions have not really been able to inhabit."

　　A North American release for Spooks (or MI5) has not been confirmed at this time. We'll bring you more information as soon as it becomes available.