Spooks Trivia Quiz

Answer: Peter Firth

Peter Firth began his career as a child actor, and appeared in Peter Shaffer's play 'Equus' on stage in both London and New York, as well as the film version in 1977. Sir Harry Pearce was the head of Section D of MI5 in the series, dealing with counter terrorism.

He came close to death and demotion on several occasions, but managed to retain his role throughout the whole run. Peter Davison played the fifth Doctor Who from 1982 until 1984, and Peter Vaughan portrayed Harry Grout in 'Porridge', among many other roles. Peter Capaldi appeared in the the film 'Local Hero' (1983) and as the spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the television series 'The Thick of It'.

Answer: With a hot deep fat fryer

The episode caused a lot of controversy and the BBC received many complaints. Helen, a junior officer played by Lisa Faulkner, had befriended the wife of MI5's target but had given herself away by a slip of the tongue, which led to her capture. She was tortured by firstly having her hand plunged in the hot fat, then her face, before being shot.

The episode set a precedent as being the first time a major character died, something which 'Spooks' continued to do throughout its run. The hot fat was, apparently, cold tea and food colouring, but it was very convincing and Helen's death was voted as the most shocking in the series in a 2010 poll.

Answer: Adam Carter

Rupert Penry Jones was brought into the series to take over from Matthew Macfadyen who had already decided to leave. Macfadyen's character was written out after becoming disillusioned and sabotaging an operation. Carter suffered the loss of his wife during series four and had a mental breakdown. Penry Jones appeared only in the first episode of the seventh series.

His character prevented a car bomb explosion in central London by driving the car to an unpopulated area, but was killed when trying to escape from the vehicle.

Answer: The Grid

All the characters working for MI5 were referred to as being part of the Grid. This included the agents themselves and the technicians and analysts who provided the background and information needed. Among the skills of the technicians were their abilities to hack into various computer systems, track suspects by using the security cameras across London and use face recognition software to identify foreign and friendly agents.

Although being backroom staff should have been safer, four technicians also came to a sticky end during the run of 'Spooks'.

Answer: Home Secretary

MI5 was responsible for internal security and fell under the responsibility of the Home Secretary. Robert Glenister played the role of Nicholas Blake and remained in the series from 2006 until 2009. He was particularly prominent during the eighth series, when he was forced to resign due to false information fed to the press, leading Harry Pearce to describe him as 'a decent politician'.

However, he was then discovered to be a member of an organisation called 'Nightingale', which was set on causing war between India and Pakistan and set up a new form of unelected government. Harry visited him in the first episode of series nine, giving him a glass of poisoned whisky.

This killed him while making his death appear to be due to a heart attack.

Answer: Shot by a fellow MI5 officer

Jo Portman was played by Miranda Raison, and joined 'Spooks' in episode five of series four. She was a journalist who was recruited after proving her investigative skills when she saw through the cover story of one of the MI5 agents. In series six, she was taken captive and the final episode ended with her appearing to be dead. Series seven revealed that this was faked, although Jo's experience left her traumatised and distracted throughout the series.

In episode three of series eight, Jo was taken hostage and held by the leader of the terrorist gang.

The shooting of the terrorist would also kill her, and she was killed by her colleague, Ros Myers, after indicating that she knew what her fate was to be.

Answer: Thames House

Thames House is situated in Millbank, London, on the bank of the River Thames. The name came up on screen regularly throughout each episode to show where the action was taking place. In fact, the entrance to the building shown in the series is not Thames House, but the Freemason's Hall in Great Queen Street. Downing Street is where the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and other government officials live. Guildhall is the administrative centre of the City of London and Grosvenor House is a hotel.

Answer: Richard Armitage

Lucas North was not who he appeared to be, having killed the real Lucas and assumed his identity. His real name was John Bateman, and he took over as North, who had already been accepted as an MI5 agent. As North, he became head of Section D before being imprisoned by the Russians for many years.

Despite his false identity, much of what the character did was for the benefit of MI5 but he eventually killed himself, at the end of series nine, when his secret was discovered. Max Brown played Dimitri Levendis and Shazad Latif was Tariq Masood, who also died in the final series. Iain Glen played Vaughn Edwards, who forced North to hand over secret information (which proved to be useless). Glen's character also died.

Answer: Ruth Evershed

Ruth made her first appearance in the second episode of series two, and (with a nice symmetry) left in episode five of series five, having faked her own death. In fact, actress Nicola Walker was pregnant so left the programme temporarily. Ruth returned in the first episode of series eight and her relationship with Harry Pearce, with whom she was in love, continued. Since 'Spooks' didn't provide happy endings, Ruth was stabbed and died protecting Harry. Ros Myers, played by Hermione Norris, died in episode eight of series eight, and Malcolm Wynn-Jones (Hugh Simon) retired. Harry Pearce was shown as returning to work as the series drew to its conclusion.

Answer: Tom Quinn

Tom's apparently final appearance had been in series three, when he took early retirement. In a book about the series he was said to have set up 'Trans Atlantic Security', which appeared to be some sort of private assassination service. Tom was employed by Harry Pearce as an 'outside contractor' to kill the leader of the gang which had led to the final death in the series.

The other three options were also MI5 officers. Danny Hunter (David Oyelowo) died in the final episode of series three, and Ben Kaplan (Alex Lanipekun) was killed by rogue officer Connie James in series seven. Zafar Younis (Raza Jaffrey) was also killed off, in series six.