Crime-fighters Not Too Cool For School

The Age

Thursday October 23, 2008

Kerry Coleman

ABBC writers' competition was the best thing that ever happened to Keith Brumpton. The judges didn't think much of the drama series he entered but they were interested in his idea for a kids' show.

"I had this idea for a series called Spy Chicks, which was basically about three kids who are undercover in a school, sort of like Charlie's Angels," Brumpton says. "I didn't win but I was invited down to pitch my idea to the head of children's BBC and lots of other producers."

The television executives loved the idea and the show, renamed M.I. High, premiered less than two years later.

The series follows the lives of three extraordinary high-school students - karate black-belt Blane, social chameleon Daisy and technical whiz-kid Rose - as they fight the evil Grand Master. Playground hierarchy would ordinarily ensure the trio never even made eye contact, but once summoned by school janitor and undercover spy master Lenny, they must work together to protect the British realm.

"We wanted to reflect that the children are all different, and that kids are quite tribal at that age," Brumpton says. "In this show, the three tribes get shoehorned together and their lives depend on it. It makes very funny television."

It's a tried and tested formula and it's working well. Season two of M.I. High is airing in Britain and the BBC has proclaimed it a ratings success.

"Both the first and second seasons have done extremely well in the ratings over here," Brumpton says. "It's a bit like modern adventure things like Agent Cody Banks, but we've also tried to take the freewheeling, anything-could-happen vibe from 1960s shows like The Prisoner."

Made by Kudos, the production company behind Spooks and Life on Mars, the series has production values equal to any Hollywood blockbuster.

"It's awe-inspiring to see something that began as an idea in my head transformed into this slick production," Brumpton says. "Last weekend we were filming season three, and they were doing this big gymnastics event and they had this whole gymnasium filled with kids in amazing costumes. They had banners, the programs printed, it was like I'd walked into a room in my own head, down to the last detail."

He is thrilled with the show's success, but Brumpton says it hasn't been plain sailing; a few weeks after the BBC commissioned the series, an unexpected phone call nearly ruined everything. "We were just about to get off the ground when I had that nightmare phone call at 5pm while I was in a shopping centre, saying, 'Sorry, but the head of BBC Children has left'," he says. "I had a major panic attack because we had no idea if the new guy would even like the show."

Fortunately for Brumpton, the series went ahead with a few changes.

"They changed the name from Spy Chicks to M.I. High and brought in a boy so it would attract male audiences," he says. "It meant a lot of work for me, because adding a boy completely changes the dynamic, but I have to say it was probably for the best. It didn't feel like a good thing at the time, but we got a lot of comedy and drama out of the boy/girl thing."

Something that was time-consuming but never a chore was research. Brumpton says he spent months watching everything from old spy shows to modern teen comedies.

"I watched things like Clueless, Mean Girls to get a handle on school politics, I was online researching robotics and high-tech gadgets, I even watched episodes of Frasier to get ideas for the comedy," he says. "It was fantastic, really. I could spend all my money on science-fiction magazines and DVDs and call it work."

M.I. High screens Mondays at 5.25pm on ABC1.

© 2008 The Age

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