Spooks is one of BBC One's most popular programmes

Rogue Spooks, the drama's working title, will follow young MI5 recruits who "follow a different rule book".

BBC Three controller Julian Bellamy revealed the plans at the launch of the channel's winter and spring schedule.

Mr Bellamy said comedy remained "at the heart" of the digital channel, with six new comedy shows set to debut over the forthcoming season.

'Common sense'

Rogue Spooks, which BBC Three hopes to broadcast later next year, follows on the heels of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, which gave BBC Three its biggest, non-sport audience.

More than 2.4 million tuned in for the first episode in October.

Mr Bellamy denied that the channel was playing it safe by commissioning another spin-off, adding that "big, high-concept drama" was the way forward for the channel.

He said: "There is a logic linking big-scale dramas to a known brand and a world that you know viewers love.

"But it doesn't rule out our ability to do new titles.

Man Stroke Woman is back for second series

"Spooks is a known and popular brand, so Rogue Spooks seems like a common sense thing to do."

Man Stroke Woman, Ideal and Ron Brydon's Annually Retentive all return to BBC Three in the channel's winter and spring season.

Comedies Gavin and Stacey, Thieves Like Us, and Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor will debut on BBC Three in the new season.

Rush Hour is a brand-new comedy sketch show set in the morning rush hour, and Smalltime is a comedy set in a prison visiting room .

Comedian Rob Rouse will host Comedy Shuffle - a new talent showcase for comic performers, writers and animators.

For the first time, BBC Three has commissioned a broadband-only comedy - The Cowards - a four-man act who will take over the BBC Three website.

The Baby Borrowers will see teens fast-tracked into adulthood

Food will play a big part in BBC Three's factual schedule.

Meat, presented by BBC Two's Full On Food's Richard Johnson, will see animals slaughtered on screen as the host attempts to demystify the process of how food ends up on our plates.

In Road Kill Cafe, professional forager and road-kill chef Fergus Drennan tries to persuade the public that eating road-kill is acceptable.

BBC Three's Body Image season will return with Lucy: Teenage and Transsexual, Me and My Man Breasts and How Young Can I Get? among others.

The channel launches its Coming of Age season with The Baby Borrowers - an ambitious social experiment which sees five teenage couples looking after children from a range of age groups, from babies to adolescents.

Mr Bellamy said: "BBC Three is firing on all cylinders this winter/spring with a huge range of home-grown programmes - not seen anywhere else in the digital world - and giving our younger audience an incredibly rich and diverse mix."