kids encyclopedia robot

My Spy Family facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
My Spy Family
MySpyFamily.JPG
Genre Action
Family sitcom
Created by Paul Alexander
Written by
  • Paul Alexander
  • Trevor Neal & Simon Hickson
  • Daniel Peak
  • Trevelyan Evans
  • Gary Lawson
  • John Phelps
  • Mark Robertson
  • Clare Trenholm
Directed by
  • Dominic MacDonald
  • Tom Poole
  • David Sant
  • Angelo Abela
  • Frank W. Smith
Starring
  • Milo Twomey
  • Natasha Beaumont
  • Alice Connor
  • Joe Tracini
  • Ignat Pakhotin
Composer(s) Glenn Keiles
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 3
No. of episodes 46
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Anne Brogan and Connal Orton (for Kindle Entertainment)
  • Daniel Lennard and Cecilia Persson (for Cartoon Network Europe)
Producer(s)
  • Bernard Krichefski
  • Liz Noble (line producer)
Production location(s) Batley
Cinematography Francis De Groote
Dave Parker
Editor(s) Mike Eccles
James MacMillan
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 22 minutes approx. (per episode)
Production company(s) Kindle Entertainment
Turner Broadcasting System Europe
Distributor Decode Enterprises
Release
Original network Boomerang
Original release 1 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. The series is a co-production between Kindle Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting System Europe with Decode Enterprises handling distribution. The series aired on: Cartoon Network and Boomerang in 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 is written by Glenn Keiles excluding some songs heard in the "Intelligence Agency Cafe", these have been co-written with other songwriters.

Plot synopsis

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 wannabee 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 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

Main characters

  • Dirk Bannon (portrayed by Milo Twomey) - Dirk is a British former spy. He is married to his former arch rival, Talia, who also happened to be a spy. Dirk is usually a pushover to his wife. 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) - The Russian arch rival of Dirk, but later fell in love and married him, before retiring. As seen in 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 also is 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) - The eldest offspring of Dirk and Talia. Spike is an expert in creating various spy gadgets. Many times, it is shown that he, along with his best friend, Travis, try to sabotage any plans or simply to make fool of his geography teacher, Mr. Vong, with whom he does not get along well, due to the schemes of the Spike.
  • Elle Bannon (portrayed by Alice Connor) - 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 in the 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) - 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 to be 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

  • Des (portrayed by Vas Blackwood) - Des was 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 come useful during spy missions. He is best friends with Dirk, though sometimes that is not the case in few episodes. 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) - Travis is the best friend of Spike. He is very loyal to Spike and is always willing to help him. The actor who plays the character is a wheelchair user, but the show purposely does not mention his disability in the show. Instead they make fun of him because of his glasses.
  • Mr. Ernest Vong (portrayed by Ramon Tikaram) - 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 fail), making Wong greatly dislike Spike, although he has no ill feelings to 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) - Donna is a close friend of Elle and is mostly seen hanging out with her and Marcy. Donna is obsessed with fashion, boyfriends and wishes to be a model. Talia often comments that she will be unable to be a model nor have boyfriends due to her ankles.
  • Marcy Desmond (portrayed by Kirsty Leigh Porter) - Marcy is a shy friend of Elle and is mostly seen hanging out with Elle and Donna. Most of the times 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)) - 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.

List of episodes

46 episodes of it have been made. Similar to The Man from U.N.C.L.E., every episode is titled “The _______ Affair”.

Season 1 (2007)

No. in
series
No. in
season
Title Written by Directed by Original air date
1 1 "The Lock-In Affair" Daniel Peak Tom Poole 1 September 2007 (2007-09-01)
2 2 "The Friends Disunited Affair" Paul Alexander Dominic MacDonald 8 September 2007 (2007-09-08)
3 3 "The Dirky Dancing Affair" Paul Alexander Tom Poole 15 September 2007 (2007-09-15)
4 4 "The Charity Begins at Home Affair" Paul Alexander Dominic MacDonald 22 September 2007 (2007-09-22)
5 5 "The Bullets Over Batley Affair" Mark Robertson Dominic MacDonald 29 September 2007 (2007-09-29)
6 6 "The Prefect Storm Affair" Paul Alexander Tom Poole 6 October 2007 (2007-10-06)
7 7 "The Tenth Flask Affair" Daniel Peak Tom Poole 13 October 2007 (2007-10-13)
8 8 "The Truffles Are Forever Affair" Brian Lynch Tom Poole 20 October 2007 (2007-10-20)
9 9 "The 'Up Horoscope!' Affair" Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson Dominic MacDonald 27 October 2007 (2007-10-27)
10 10 "The Inspector Foils Affair" Julie Gearey Tom Poole 4 November 2007 (2007-11-04)
11 11 "The Vladimir Spensky Affair" Daniel Peak Tom Poole 10 November 2007 (2007-11-10)
12 12 "The Spy Who Didn't Quite Love Me Enough Affair" Mark Robertson Dominic MacDonald 17 November 2007 (2007-11-17)
13 13 "The Albovian Affair Affair" Paul Alexander Dominic MacDonald 24 November 2007 (2007-11-24)

Season 2 (2008)

No. in
series
No. in
season
Title Written by Directed by Original air date
14 1 "The Love Is the Drug Affair" Joe Williams Angelo Abela 6 September 2008 (2008-09-06)
15 2 "The Des Res Affair" Paul Alexander David Sant 13 September 2008 (2008-09-13)
16 3 "The Quiz Night Affair" Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson David Sant 20 September 2008 (2008-09-20)
17 4 "The Batley’s Got Talent Affair" Paul Alexander Frank W. Smith 27 September 2008 (2008-09-27)
18 5 "The Live and Let Dine Affair" Paul Alexander Angelo Abela 4 October 2008 (2008-10-04)
19 6 "The Talia's Day Affair" Connal Orton David Sant 11 October 2008 (2008-10-11)
20 7 "The Persuasion Affair" Chris Reddy Frank W. Smith 18 October 2008 (2008-10-18)
21 8 "The Knowledge Is Power Affair" Gary Lawson and John Phelps David Sant 25 October 2008 (2008-10-25)
22 9 "The Stroganoff Night Affair" Trevelyan Evans Frank W. Smith 1 November 2008 (2008-11-01)
23 10 "The Laughing Lord Affair" Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson David Sant 8 November 2008 (2008-11-08)
24 11 "The Mum's the Word Affair" Paul Alexander Frank W. Smith 15 November 2008 (2008-11-15)
25 12 "The Who's the Daddy Affair" Paul Alexander Frank W. Smith 22 November 2008 (2008-11-22)
A misunderstanding with Spike's birth certificate, leads him to believe Mr. Vong is his real father.
26 13 "The Bum Deal Affair" Paul Alexander David Sant 29 November 2008 (2008-11-29)

Season 3 (2009–2010)

No. in
series
No. in
season
Title Written by Directed by Original air date
27 1 "The Back in Batley Affair" Paul Alexander Dominic MacDonald 5 September 2009 (2009-09-05)
After coming back from their summer holiday, the Bannons find that things have changed, including Boris becoming the new ruler of Russia, Travis getting a new best friend who's a Battlestar Galactica fanatic, and a missing Des, who's gone to Bermuda for a year, leaving Talia in charge of his cafe.
28 2 "The Des Mondi Code Affair" Paul Alexander Tom Poole 12 September 2009 (2009-09-12)
29 3 "The 1950s Affair" Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson Dominic MacDonald 19 September 2009 (2009-09-19)
30 4 "The Cammy Loves Spikey Affair" Paul Alexander Tom Poole 26 September 2009 (2009-09-26)
31 5 "The Chat Show Affair" Daniel Peak Dominic MacDonald 3 October 2009 (2009-10-03)
32 6 "The Back Scratch Affair" Trevelyan Evans and Paul Alexander Tom Poole 10 October 2009 (2009-10-10)
33 7 "The Spy Pod Affair" Paul Alexander and Clare Trenholm Tom Poole 17 October 2009 (2009-10-17)
34 8 "The Hoop Loop Snoop Affair" Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson Tom Poole 24 October 2009 (2009-10-24)
35 9 "The Black Widows Affair" Paul Alexander Dominic MacDonald 31 October 2009 (2009-10-31)
36 10 "The Fakers & Adders Affair" Paul Alexander and Clare Trenholm Dominic MacDonald 7 November 2009 (2009-11-07)
37 11 "The Trophy Affair" Mark Oswin and James Griffiths David Sant 14 November 2009 (2009-11-14)
38 12 "The Election Affair" Gary Lawson and John Phelps Angelo Abela 21 November 2009 (2009-11-21)
39 13 "The Schoolboy Spy Affair" Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson Dominic MacDonald 28 November 2009 (2009-11-28)
40 14 "The Awful Aunty Affair" Glen Dolman Angelo Abela 5 December 2009 (2009-12-05)
41 15 "The Thick-Skinned Spike Affair" Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson Dominic MacDonald 12 December 2009 (2009-12-12)
42 16 "The Mothers in the Hood Affair" Paul Alexander Angelo Abela 19 December 2009 (2009-12-19)
43 17 "The Cheating Affair" Matthew Broughton David Sant 2 January 2010 (2010-01-02)
44 18 "The Boris Bounces Back Affair" Paul Alexander Angelo Abela 9 January 2010 (2010-01-09)
45 19 "The Pen Is Mightier Affair" Paul Alexander David Sant 16 January 2010 (2010-01-16)
46 20 "The Brought to Book Affair" Paul Alexander Angelo Abela 23 January 2010 (2010-01-23)

Cast

Character Played by
Dirk Bannon Milo Twomey
Talia Bannon Natasha Beaumont
Elle Bannon Alice Connor
Spike Bannon Joe Tracini
Boris Bannon Ignat Pakhotin
Des Vas Blackwood
Mr. Vong Ramon Tikaram
Travis Mitchell Richard Sargent
Donna Jacobs Cascade Brown
Marcy Desmond Kirsty Leigh Porter
Mike Quiller Dan Li
kids search engine
My Spy Family Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.