The plots are complex, multi-layered, and unpredictable: regular characters are killed off abruptly, and surprise twists abound. The dialogue is intelligent and frequently witty. Most of what happens in "The Sandbaggers" is conversation that drives the plot along—it was thought unnecessary for the audience to see everything in minute detail. In a typical episode, Burnside moves from office to office having conversations (and heated arguments) with his colleagues in Whitehall and in the intelligence community. Sometimes his conversations are interspersed with scenes of the Sandbaggers operating in the field; at other times the audience sees more of the buzzing "Ops Room", where missions are coordinated and controlled, than of the Sandbaggers' actual field activities. The way events and their consequences were revealed through talk created interest, as the audience worked out how, as each episode progressed, each revelation completed the picture.