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In the United States, the series is screened on A&E, a specialty cable channel, under the title MI-5. This is partly due to the fact that the word "spook" is an old (American) racist slang term for African Americans, and the network did not wish to risk the possibility of causing offence, and partly because in the US, "spook" is more generally associated with the CIA.[7] Series 3 began in the U.S. immediately after the UK run ended and wrapped up with Episode 10 on March 12, 2005. The first two series were shown on A&E as a single 16-episode season. Due to the need to insert commercial advertising breaks, the episodes shown on A&E are heavily edited versions, with each 59-minute installment being edited down to roughly 45 minutes for U.S. showings, often causing some narrative problems for American viewers. The full versions are, however, available on DVD in that country.
Unlike Series 3, Series 4 did not air immediately on A&E after it ended in the UK. It appeared that they were abandoning the show, but Series 4 will air in the US on Fridays at 11pm starting September 15, 2006 after an 18-month absence.[8]
In Canada, the series is also screened uncut and unedited on BBC Canada, a specialty digital cable channel, under its original BBC title Spooks. BBC also shows Spooks on its entertainment channel BBC Prime in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The programme is also aired as Spooks in Australia and New Zealand on ABC and TVNZ respectively. In Sweden it airs as Spooks on SVT1, in France the programme is called MI-5 and broadcast on Canal Plus and Canal Jimmy and in Finland the show is called Erikoisjoukkue on YLE TV1, although the continuation of the show to Series 3 is not certain. In Belgium Spooks was broadcast on the Flemish public channel Canvas and on the French Belgian channel RTBF. In the Czech Republic as MI5 on ČT1. In Israel it was aired under two different names (MI-5 and Spooks) on the Arutz 2 Channel 2 and on cable. In Slovenia it was aired on Kanal A as Tajni agenti. It is aired in Southeast Asia through the Hallmark Channel.
In Brazil, the series is screened on People + Arts, cable channel, under the title Dupla Identidade (Double Identity). In Argentina the same channel screens it as Doble Identidad (Double Identity as well).
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