Fans of the programme Spooks are perplexed as to why the actors appear to have aged so little.
The espionage drama series, which aired from 2002 to 2011, featured the activities of a group of MI5 officials stationed inside the service’s Thames House headquarters in a highly protected set of offices called The Grid.
The first three seasons starred Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes, and David Oyelowo as Tom Quinn, Zoe Reynolds, and Danny Hunter, respectively.
Now, two decades after their debut, the three has attempted to replicate a shot they took together to promote the series when it originally aired.
David posted a series of images on Instagram documenting their efforts, which numbered nearly ten.
While in the crowd at the Critic’s Choice Awards, the three actors posed for the photographs, but their emotions were far from deadpan.
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Instead, they were seen conversing and laughing, all staring at the camera at various points, victims of a hazy photo, and Keely was even cut out of the image at one point.
Captioning the post, David wrote: ‘We tried sooo hard to recreate this pic from 21 years ago and we had far too much fun failing to do so.
‘The show from back in the day was SPOOKS (MI5 in US) and it changed our lives forever.
‘These pics are exactly what actually shooting that show was like.’
He continued: ‘I’m so proud of the amazing work #keeleyhawes and #matthewmacfadyen have gone on to produce, but I am most joyful about our eternal bond. Love them!!’
The actor then expressed gratitude to the awards for nominating him for his role in the series Lawmen: Bass Reeves.
When they saw the images, many people couldn’t believe it had been so long since they’d been in the series.
‘What do you mean 21 years ago? Nobody aged at all,’ Patrick Lee commented.
‘It hasn’t been 21 years. Damn,’ user Thilo shared.
‘Oh my goodness has it been that long . I remember it as if it were yesterday. You haven’t changed one bit,’ Jo Joseph wrote.
Many others said the three ‘hadn’t aged’.
The sitcom was a huge success right away, with the first season averaging 7.5 million viewers over six episodes.
The second episode was notable for the horrific death of character Helen Flynn (Lisa Faulkner), which generated the most complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Commission in 2002.
She was tormented with a deep fryer before being slain.
Matthew and Keely, who began dating the same year the programme aired and married in 2004, finally departed the series after three seasons.
Spooks is streaming on BBC iPlayer.