I am watching a British series called MI5 on Netflix but this year, PBS started broadcasting the series beginning with the first episodes/season from 2002 and 2003.

MI5, now in its 10th season, is a wildly popular show in Britain. The 2011 episodes are not yet available in the US. I am up to the 6th or 7th season on Netflix. It is a riveting, thrilling, action-packed and absolutely addicting series about Britain's spies or "spooks" from the MI5 and sometimes the MI6 investigative divisions/teams who are like our CIA and FBI.
If you choose to watch it on PBS, let me forewarn you: don't get too attached to the key players. They all get killed or leave the service under cloudy conditions only to be replaced with new team members- who likewise get killed off eventually. I guess British TV producers don't get raked over the coals when they renew actor's contracts. Every star can be replaced, and the show is so well written that it is not dependent upon its 'stars'. It is not like Law and Order or CSI where introducing new characters means also introducing a new series. Just kill off the characters and replace them with fresh blood.
I learned some interesting things. Much like Americans, the Brits holds their government in disdain, but not for the same reasons. They have a three-party political system which avoids the gridlocks in government inherent in a two-party system (like we are presently experiencing with the budget crisis). They view American politicians and government officials as arrogant, manipulative, interfering and domineering. (No! Us? Really?) Let me remind you that they regard our government only a little more corrupt than their own. They treat no country or party lightly.
I finally understand how and why governments get away with covering up ugly truths with truly bizarre news and investigative reports- like the single bullet theory when Kennedy was assassinated. (First and grossest example to come to mind.) If I had anything to worry about, I would be paranoid too. Seems those traffic cameras have a greater ability than photographing license plates! The spies spy on each other, even within their own countries. Information is power.
Of course, they are ever chasing Muslim extremists, home-grown terrorists, and avoiding economic or environmental disasters. Some of it is over the top, but hey, it is fiction and guaranteed to deliver at least one rush of adrenalin in every episode.