Spy Review is reporting this because some of the techniques used on the show would be familiar to the readers of this blog because of the use of covert techniques to carry out the pranks and, of course, the hidden TV camera used to capture the moments was the equivalent of a spy camera that many of us will have used or read about.

Many of the pranks were absolutely hilarious because the victims were completely oblivious to what we, the viewers, took it as granted and knew it inevitable that they would fall victim. To us, it was their stupidity of not knowing better, but I bet if we were in the same position, we wouldn’t have done any better.

The success of the show was down to incredible planning and help from friends of the victims to play in on the act, but I am sure there were few cases where the potential victims probably sussed it out and they would have to gone back to the drawing board and start all over again on a different person. Of course, we will never know for certain because if there were, they would have been cut.

There are some well known methods that can be used at home such as using undetectable spy cameras. Its quite a useful look at how to tap someone’s calls, track their activities on the computer, and other general ways of spying.

If you really wanted to pull off a spying mission using a multitude of techniques and in different locations, you will, as the video suggests, need the services of others that are willing to be in cahoots with you.

Of course, a video like this makes everything appear easy to do. In reality you will need to employ greater diligence and spend quite a lot of money while you are at it to get access to all the gadgets.

This video is not detailed enough to provide a thorough understanding of how to go about using each of the methods shown, though it does provide quite a fun introduction to the routines involved.

I think this video is a bit of fun; anyone looking to do this seriously, will probably need to employ the services of a professional.

Some of these techniques are used by police, albeit more professionally of course, when carrying out surveillance missions on dangerous criminals and potential terror activity

Over the years there has been a lot of good spy entertainment both on TV and the movies. One show I quite like is I Spy starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. The show is based on the espionage genre about two secret agents who carry out missions on behalf of their employer, the Pentagon, in far-flung places. I caught a few of the episodes on YouTube, but they usually get taken off after a while, possibly because of copyright issues. Anyway, these are both very good actors in their own right, especially Culp who guest starred in four Columbo films, playing the killer in the first three and the a father of a killer in the fourth.

The show was probably inspired by the success of one of the earlier James Bond movies.

Whist it might not have some of the very technical gadgets and gizmos that we see in some modern spy shows, it should be appreciated this series was made in the 60’s and was quite ahead of its time.

The series showcases clever ways the two stars carry out some of their missions, though some scenes do seem quite amateurish; I guess that has more to do with how we view it after having watched some of the more recent spy stuff, which use more advanced gadgets and ideas.

The show can be a good viewing for spy enthusiasts as a point of comparison of how these kind of shows have developed over the years. But its good viewing in its own right. A spin-off I Spy movie was released quite recently with Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy playing the roles of Culp and Cosby respectively.

Alias is an incredibly well written TV show created by J.J. Abrams, and has won many awards too. It is a top spy drama full of action and gritty plot lines that aired from 2001 to 2006. What stands out from this spy drama is that the lead is played by Jennifer Garner, who’s martial arts skills are something to be reckoned with! The spy gadgets in Alias makes James Bond look like a school boy!

Sydney Bristow is a young, athletic, attractive college graduate recruited as a secret agent for a top secret branch of the CIA, known as SD-6. After she confesses what she does to her boyfriend, her boss at SD-6, Arvin Sloane, has him killed. Through a fit of grief and anger, she discovers that SD-6 is actually a rogue international agency, and she becomes a double agent for the real CIA to help bring down SD-6 as well as Arvin Sloane.

Sydney works with her father, Jack Bristow, who’s another double agent for the CIA to bring down the whole of SD-6 and the Alliance of 12 with it. The whole 5 series follows Sydney as she brings down terrorists, the Alliance, the relentless Arvin Sloane, as well as the troubles she faces with her love life, her mother and the discovery of a sister.

The very beautiful Jennifer Garner plays Sydney Bristow, a very tough spy, but yet also very human. Her father played by Victor Garber is a highly intelligent and experience agent with an incredible talent for game-play, espionage and deception.

You’ll also recognise CIA agent Eric Weiss (Greg Grunberg) as the mind-reading police officer from new and very popular Heroes TV show. And then there’s Marshall Flinkman, played by Kevin Weisman. A top electronics and computer expert with painfully amusing social skills.

If you’ve never seen Alias, you really are missing out! So here’s some more spy entertainment for the weekend with the Alias DVD box sets. The DVD box sets are available from Amazon, with season 1 to season 5 individually, or a box set of seasons 1 to 4 (but not season 5 oddly).

If you enjoy spy dramas and movies, then you’ll probably enjoy Spooks (which is called MI5 in the US and Canada). If you’ve already seen Spooks before, you know what I mean when I say its a gripping and fascinating TV series. There have been 5 seasons so far, and there’s a new series on the way due to be aired in Autumn 2007.

Spooks is a highly acclaimed TV drama with many Best Drama awards to its name. The ‘Spooks’ name comes from the popular colloquialism for spies, and refers to the British Security Service (MI5). The series dramatises the work of security professionals combating a number of dangerous and often topical security threats to the UK.

The teams in Spooks frequently engage in surveillance, undercover operations, interrogations, armed assaults, and more. There is just no comparison to any other TV series. If you enjoy TV shows such as Alias, 24 and Bugs, then you will probably enjoy Spooks too.

I’ve added the links for the DVD sets on Amazon below, all 5 series that are currently available to buy.

It’s amazing what spy toy gadgets you can get these days. A simple search shows that you can get spy watches, spy planes, spy cars, bugs, tracking gear, self-destructing spy paper, alarm systems and walkie talkies. And these gadgets have been designed for kids! Ahem, but you might need to “test” them before letting the toys loose on your children, cousins, nephews, nieces!

The Digital Spy Camera in Sunglasses contains a hidden digital camera in a pair of sunglasses. By hitting a button on the wired remote control, you can take photographs using the headset. Thankfully the device is nice and obvious, so you know what the kid is up to. Hiding a camera in sunglasses is not too easy to do, but a similar system using a wireless remote could be built with some ingenuity.

The Spy Lazer Tripwire kits features an array of red LED lights (hence why the description does not use the word “laser”) to create an alarmed perimeter. It’s essentially a break-beam system, and will sound an alarm if someone breaks the beam of light! Maplin have their own real-world version of this system too!

With spy toys like these, I wish I was a kid again! That said, I do get to play with the ‘grown-up’ versions.

The International Spy Museum in Downtown, Washington, DC is a museum dedicated to all things spy related, including spy techniques, gadgets, weapons, vehicles and code breaking! You can learn about all of history’s spy masters and how they used the intelligence their spies gathered. Some of the spy masters include, Elizabeth I, George Washington, and Joseph Stalin.

The museum offers a history of real spies, and shows how technology has evolved over the years. One of the many exhibits you can visit include finding out about how camera-carrying pigeons were used in World War I for aerial surveillance compared to the satellite surveillance we used today! Find out how spy cameras work, as well as tracking technologies, night vision and bugging devices. You can even buy some kit for yourself at the Spy Museum Store.

The museum tells you all about the secrets that helped turn the course of history, featuring KGB defectors, Britain’s intelligence services during the wars, code breaking at Bletchley Park during World War II, and double-agents during the Cold War to name just a few! The spy museum features a Ground Truth Theater, which confronts the very real intelligence challenges of the 21st century faced by governments all over the world.

For any spy enthusiast, the International Spy Museum is a must see. When I eventually get over the pond to the US, I’ll be making this place top on my list of places to visit.

The UK BBC TV Show Bugs was a massive success in the late 1990s featuring a team of 3 free-lance surveillance specialists tackling a variety of high-tech criminals. The episodes featured a healthy dose of explosions, surveillance gadgetry and believable futuristic story lines set around many London settings.

The team featured Nick Beckett (played by Jesse Birdsall) as an ex-government operative, Ros Henderson (Jaye Griffiths) as an electronics genius and Ed (Craig McLachlan) as a pilot and daredevil. The series was coupled with an addictive and catchy theme tune that still hasn’t dated.

I know for a fact that there are a number of die-hard Bugs fans out there (because I’m one of them! The TV series sparked off my interest in electronic surveillance, and as a result led me to design a number of surveillance gadgets, run a spy shop and now as the author behind the articles at Spy Review!

I thoroughly recommend Bugs as a note of nostalgia rather than solid action. I can imagine that our American friends might find Bugs a little strange based on the TV shows that they are used to these days. However, a generation of Bugs fans will know what I mean when I say that Bugs was amazing in its day (and still is!)

Visit: The Bugs DVD Boxset on Amazon.co.uk