Spies like, well, you

MI5 is wanting to expand its operations for the modern world. But if you think all you need to be a spy is a well-cut tux and the ability to order a Martini, think again - as eight ordinary people found out.

Role model, we presume?

It's a grey day in early March and eight people, who have only just met one another, are waiting nervously in a café in West London.

One by one they are given the number of a flat on a housing estate and given just 10 minutes to talk their way into the property. There's a lot of nervous laughter, and anxiety about the best way to approach the job.

They're reminded that they're only to use persuasion, and that they must under no circumstances use any threatening language or physical intimidation.

Volunteer spy Simon Dilworth answered your questions

The eight are not door to door salespeople, but are trainees on a two month crash course in espionage, and this is their first day on the job.

The task they've been set is not just to talk their way into the property, they also have to gain access to the balcony at the rear of the property and be seen there drinking a glass of water with the owner.

Sounds tricky? It's allegedly exactly how the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, sizes up their raw recruits.

On their first day, before they've received any formal training at all, the would-be spies have to show the right mixture of nerve, charm and the ability to think on their feet.

Those are qualities that no amount of classroom training can give.

Intelligence and its failings are so much in the spotlight at the moment, but for most of us, knowledge of what makes a good spy begins and ends with the need for a well cut tuxedo and a penchant for vodka martinis shaken, not stirred.

Shaken, and stirred?

With MI5 and the CIA talking publicly about the need for more and better intelligence officers, what qualities do they require and what training do the raw recruits get?

Trick of the trade, or tourist?

More than 5,000 people responded to a series of adverts placed in the press at the end of 2003, to be given the opportunity of a crash course in espionage to see if they really have what it takes.

The applicants knew that they wouldn't really be defending Queen and country but understood the course was designed to be as close as possible to the sort of training that a real intelligence officer would go through - only compressed into two months.

The experts, who would be training the final eight, are all leaders in their field.

With discretion being a vital quality needed for the job the candidates were only able to tell one other person what they were really doing. For everyone else they had to invent plausible reasons to explain their absence from home and work for a period of two months.

One claimed that he was going on safari to Africa, several that they were doing a career development course and two claimed that they were going to be in New York for the period, a plan which nearly came unstuck when friends and family promised to visit.

The recruits quickly learned that charm could only get them so far, and attention to detail, planning and hard graft were also a vital part of their training.

We're just students - certainly not spies. No, sir

When travelling undercover a real spy can have nothing linking him to his old life and family, or he risks placing not only himself and his mission but also those he loves at risk.

On their first day, several of the recruits were caught out letting their real names slip, or having items in their possession that could easily link them to their former lives.

But they were quick learners and committing details to memory then and burning confidential documents soon became second nature to most of them.

They learned about surveillance, and how to spot if they were being watched. They learned how to "go grey" and blend into a crowd, to plant bugs and tracking devices, and how to cultivate unsuspecting people and get them to do what they wanted.

But did any of them get out on to the balconies on that very first day and at the end of the training would any of them want to do the job for real?

For some the answer to both questions was a resounding yes. But for others the reality of their experience was not something they would want to repeat.

Spy, which follows the experiences of the volunteers, is next broadcast on BBC Three on 21 July at 2335 BST.

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You sent your questions to one of the volunteers, Simon Dilworth, from Northern Ireland.

How were you selected and who trained you?
Joren McCleary, Kobe, Japan

After filling out the initial application, I went to Liverpool and then twice to London. At each stage the questioning became more intense and unnerving: I had a handgun waved under my nose whilst defending my political stance. We were trained by former CIA, MI5 and MI6 agents and also by civilian experts in cryptology and psychology.

Was it easy to walk away from your old lives and take on a new identity?
Simon, Norwich

Some recruits found this more difficult than others. I can only speak for myself and as a father of 3 kids I did find it harder than I imagined. 8 weeks is not really a long time but days without hearing their voices did drag.

How difficult was it to lose contact with your family?
John McCaul, Belfast

It was easy simply because I was not allowed any unauthorised contact. In 6 weeks I was permitted 2x5-minute phone calls to my wife .The first time I rang home I had to warn her the call was being monitored!

What qualities do you think would make you a good spy?
Maya, Spain

A sex change! Sandy our super sexy female trainer loved to remind us how women made better spies. But seriously a spy needs to be a quick thinker, work well under pressure and be able to blend in. For this reason tall agents are not assigned field missions.

Were you issued with special gadgets to get the bad guys?
Mary, London

Yes we were all given a briefcase full of equipment to help us with our tradecraft-digital camera, laptop, mobile phone etc. But there were no exploding pens or cars converting into submarines at the touch of a button. And there were no bad guys either thank goodness!

What did you say at the door, to get invited for a drink on the person's balcony?
Jack, London

I told an elderly lady I was a video location manager working for Chris de Burgh. Hearing my Ulster accent she must have thought I was Chris de Burgh as she didn't let me in claiming she was doing her hair. Not my finest hour.

Would you like to do this for real and give up everything?
Ivy, Lagos, Nigeria

Twenty years ago I would have jumped at the chance. Now I have a lot more to give up and I realise I am not spy material. A Service insider told me that there is an exceptionally high divorce rate in the spy business with a lot of agents marrying their secretaries- the only person they can confide in and trust.