MI-5: Volume 7

More highly topical stories as the award-winning intelligence drama returns for a seventh series. Smouldering heart-throb Richard Armitage joins the cast as MI5 officer Lucas North. Having spent the past eight years in a Russian prison, Lucas North is welcomed back by MI5 supremo and old friend Harry Pearce, who was instrumental in finally securing his release. Lucas is keen to get back to work straight away and, with Section D's current priority operation having a strong Russian connection, he could well prove invaluable. But, after eight years with only a high ranking Russian spymaster for company, can Lucas's loyalty really be taken for granted? Series Seven enters into classic espionage territory. In a world where no-one can be trusted and nothing is secure, the team cannot rely on gadgets or technology to keep them safe, but instead must live by their wits as they face their most ingenious and determined enemies yet.

Episode 1: The Last Post
In a world where Russia is rapidly emerging as a new superpower and where Islamist terrorism is still a real threat, our team find itself operating in the most testing, unsettled and frightening of times - the beginning of a new ColdWar.
Having survived her terrifying ordeal, Jo is at home recuperating. However, despite Adam's pastoral support, she is psychologically fragile and not yet ready to return to work.
Two days before Remembrance Sunday, British soldier Private Andy Sullivan is kidnapped off the streets of London by a team of Al Qaeda terrorists. Al Qaeda posts a video message on the internet announcing that he will be killed unless Remembrance Sunday services are cancelled.
Meanwhile, after suffering eight years in a Russian gaol, Lucas North (who used to work for Harry) is returned to MI5 on a secret spy swap. Harry and Arkady Kachimov, his opposite number in the Russian Intelligence Service, execute the swap.
Ros has also spent time in Russia, working undercover. She is summoned home by Harry when he suspects her cover has been blown, but she has come this far so risks her life to meet an asset. She discovers him dead and has to fight off an assassin before she is able to get vital intelligence and flee home to London.
Adam and Lucas join forces to rescue Andy Sullivan. On doing so, they learn from Ros's Russian intelligence, that al Qaeda is planning to detonate a bomb during a service of Remembrance and that the bomber is supported by the Chechens with links to Russia. Harry realises that his Nemesis, FSB chief Arkady Kachimov, must be behind the attack.
The families of servicemen are already gathered as Adam and Lucas arrive on the scene. Adam finds the bomb in a car, but will he manage to prevent it from going off and killing hundreds as well as himself?

Episode 2: Revenge Is Best Served Cold
As the team reels from Adam's death, Harry vows to take revenge on the man he believes to be responsible - FSB chief, Arkady Kachimov. Harry seeks the support of the British Government, explaining that he believes the Russians are engaged in a campaign to destroy Britain. The Government refuses to acknowledge his plea and insists it will not sanction his desire for revenge. Harry must find concrete proof that the Russians are behind it all.
Harry asks the team, now headed by Ros, to investigate Russian oil tycoon Alexander Beletsky. He knows Beletsky has connections high up within the Russian Intelligence Service, so the team is ordered to blackmail him for information and find out what he thinks the Russians are planning. But the only thing Beletsky knows is that he has been advised to shut down his company's servers at a specific time, so the team sets out to find out why. Meanwhile, Malcolm notices a strange sonar anomaly which piques his interest.
Lucas North is desperate to be back on the Grid and working. Although Harry is glad to have Lucas home safe, he orders him to stay away at this sensitive time. This is partly because Lucas needs to rest, but mainly because Harry is concerned about the relationship he forged with Kachimov during his years of incarceration. Unbeknownst to Harry, his instincts are correct. It seems Lucas is working for the Russians when he meets with his Russian handler, who is revealed to be his ex-wife, Elizabeta. However, Lucas uses his double agent status to start his own line of investigation. More determined than ever, Lucas uses Elizabeta to find out what Kachimov is up to.
Harry soon learns he was right; the Russians are planning something huge. The team discover a Russian stealth submarine in British waters which is planning to attack Britain's communications. If the attack is a success, it will render the country helpless, bringing it to its knees by causing financial and social chaos. But the team need the sub's comms code to prevent the attack and there is only one man who can get it - Lucas North. Lucas shows his true brilliance and skill by playing Kachimov at his own game and ‘turning' him in order to gain access to the code. Lucas manages to retain his false status as a Russian double agent, in order to help MI5 in the future.
The game is over for Kachimov as Lucas hands him over to Harry, demonstrating himself as an extraordinary officer and proving that his loyalties always lay with MI5. Harry gets his revenge.

Episode 3: Secrets and Lies
The team has been alerted to a barrage of possible British al Qaeda attacks, but it is proving hard to stay on top of them all. With murmurings that al Qaeda is active again and with the Home Secretary refusing to raise the national threat level, the team is under even more pressure to ensure a terrorist attack is prevented.
After a tip-off from an old asset of Adam's, Ben is sent undercover to find out everything he can about a particularly active cell. It's an extremely dangerous operation and his cover is nearly blown, but he manages to convince the cell leader that he is legitimate and is entrusted further into the operation.
Meanwhile, a small event triggers a memory which Lucas has buried from a time when he was tortured in prison in Russian. He remembers his torturers asking him about ‘Sugarhorse', a name that meant nothing to him. Lucas goes to Harry, who denies all knowledge of it. But Harry is lying and quickly seeks out the only man he can trust for advice, his old MI5 mentor and spy catcher, Bernard Qualtrough. It transpires that Sugarhorse is the most top-secret operation MI5 ever had and the Russians have caught wind of its existence: there must be a top-level mole working within MI5. Harry knows that this could lead to the downfall of MI5 and starts to investigate. But as Harry leaves, Bernard Qualtrough makes a call to the Russians. Qualthrough is a traitor.
With Harry off the Grid, Ros holds the fort. Now deep undercover with the al Qaeda cell, Ben learns that it is planning a bombing campaign in London. He is unable to discover the targets and hopes to learn the full story when he and the terrorists go on a dry run. But as they carry out the dry run, Ben makes a horrifying discovery: this isn't a practice, this is the real thing.
Ros and the team face a desperate race against time to stop the four terrorists' bombs going off. They are successful on all but one. But the world will never learn of the three bombs the team prevented from detonating; in the public's mind, MI5 failed.

Episode 4: Supping With The Devil
In the aftermath of al Qaeda's one successful bomb attack, the team learns that al Qaeda's number three, Muhammed Khordad, is in London and wants to negotiate. It's a risk, but they have to take this chance for peace.
Khordad sends Harry a message with details for a private meeting. Alone and stripped bare of back-up and comms [communications equipment], Harry and Ros are led into the lion's den. Khordad has intelligence of a terrorist attack, planned by an extremist faction of al Qaeda, targeting London at 3pm that afternoon. He is prepared to exchange information on the location of the bomb for a public pardoning of two al Qaeda prisoners, recently released from Guantanamo Bay. It's a test of trust on both sides - if it goes well, they can move onto wider issues.
Harry meets with the Home Secretary and explains Khordad's proposition. He tries to persuade him that negotiating with terrorists is the right thing for Britain's policy. When the Home Secretary resists, Harry points out that Britain once negotiated with the IRA and convinces him that, if they pull this off, it really could be the first step towards peace with al Qaeda.
Ben and Jo have been tailing Khordad. The clock is ticking as 3pm draws near and the team is still searching for the bomb. Tensions rise as the team waits to learn whether or not the Home Secretary will deliver his statement. Eventually it comes through, but the broadcast isn't exactly to Khordad's liking, so he breaks off contact with Harry. With time running out, the team has to bring him in and make him talk. But just as they are about to take him down, Khordad vanishes.
Harry discovers that Khordad has been taken by the CIA and negotiates with them to get him back. At the eleventh hour, Khordad provides Harry with the location of the bomb. Unexpectedly, the Russians have also learnt about the bomb and, in a test of Lucas' loyalty, they order him to make sure the bomb goes off. The team has a tough decision to make: either they defuse the bomb, blowing Lucas's cover and leaving themselves vulnerable to Russia, or they let the bomb go off and maintain Lucas's double-agent status.
In the midst of the drama, Harry receives a call from his old mentor, Bernard Qualtrough, who informs him that he believes Connie is the mole within MI5 and that she is responsible for passing on top-secret information about operation Sugarhorse to the Russians. What is Harry's next move?
And then the bomb goes off...

Episode 5: Wicked Game
The British economy is on the brink of collapse; if one more bank goes down, the country's entire financial system will implode. Rumours about the identity of the next troubled bank are circulating through the City, creating panic. It is believed the man behind the rumours is Alexis Meynell, who is famous for exploiting vulnerable economies all over the world. The team believes that Meynell is about to take the biggest gamble of his life - a gamble that, if he wins, would destroy the British economy. The team needs to get into the heart of the City to find out exactly what Meynell is up to and how they can stop him.
Ros is sent undercover, working as an employee at Meynell's firm. Her mission is to find proof that he is responsible for spreading the rumours so the Government can legitimately freeze his assets and take him down. Meynell is impressed by Ros from the moment she arrives, but is careful to keep his cards close to his chest.
After the shocking revelation that Connie could be the Sugarhorse mole, Harry has her put under house arrest and has her home searched for anything that might prove her treachery.
Meynell's stringent security makes communicating with Ros difficult. Lucas has to turn up at the office playing the role of her fiancé. Unbeknownst to Lucas, Asa (Meynell's right-hand man) sees him on the office CCTV and recognises him. Meynell, intrigued by Ros, invites her and Lucas to his fundraiser that evening. With the office supposedly empty, the team uses this opportunity to get Ben into Meynell's office to search for intelligence. Meanwhile, Asa has also slipped back to do some research on Lucas, as he is convinced he recognises him from his days in Russia.
When the function is over, Meynell and Ros make their way back to his hotel for a nightcap. He confides in her, revealing that over the past 20 years he has been living a lie. He is secretly a fervent Communist, always has been, and his aim is to use his position of power to bankrupt countries and bring down the capitalist system so that a more just system can replace it. The more time they spend together, the more Ros realises Meynell's agenda isn't material. He has a moral agenda.
Meynell then receives a call revealing that Ros is MI5. Meynell lashes out at her but Ros convinces him she believes in his ideology and wants to help him bring down the system. Challenged to prove she is trustworthy, she sleeps with him.
Having gained Meynell's trust, Ros is forced to place herself once more in huge personal danger by playing the biggest poker game of her life. The whole team (Connie has now been cleared and is back on the Grid) works with Ros as a nerve-racking dénouement ensues. She persuades the Treasury to put up a massive financial stake to bet against Meynell on the markets. But while Meynell might trust her, Asa doesn't. Suddenly it's not just the economy, but Ros's life that is at risk.

Episode 6: The Witness
An emergency Middle Eastern peace summit is being held in London, after a recent Israeli attack on Gaza. The team is responsible for the security of the event. Amidst the preparations, an internet filter on Malcolm's computer reveals that a key part of an assassin's toolkit is being sold on-line. Ros is concerned, especially with all the VIPs in town for the summit. The team needs to get it back immediately.
Harry sits in private torment, pondering the prospect that his friend, Bernard Qualtrough, is a traitor. Unexpectedly, he receives a message from Asset K, a Russian sleeper agent he recruited 20 years ago, saying she needs to make contact urgently. Harry believes that she might have proof that Qualtrough is the mole, so with Connie's name cleared, Harry entrusts her to make the meet whilst he acts as a decoy.
With Harry indisposed, Ros orders Lucas to collect the piece of kit. Lucas discovers the vendor is a teenager, Dean Mitchell, who lives with his mother. Whilst at the family's house, something catches Lucas's eye. He looks out of the window, only to see a snatch squad waiting outside. Someone else is after this bit of kit, and they are armed.
Lucas and the family make a run for it. Meanwhile, back on the Grid, the comms have been compromised. It soon dawns on the team that this is an inside job. It has to be MI6 who is after the boy.
Lucas and the Mitchells are on the run. Lucas is suspicious of Dean. Whom is he working for? Where did he get this highly dangerous piece of kit? Lucas starts to interrogate Dean and it soon transpires he is innocent. However, Dean confesses to witnessing a motorbike crash and it becomes clear why MI6 is after him. Dean must have stumbled upon MI6's black-op.
Lucas and the team follow the intelligence trail and realise that a secret MI6 unit is planning to assassinate the United Nations Chief Negotiator, who is in London for the peace summit. The team rescues the UN negotiator at the very last moment. Because of what Dean knows, the team creates a new identity for him and his mother. They are about to leave the country, but at St Pancras station Dean is shot dead. MI6 has succeeded in ‘mopping up' its black op.
Late at night at home, Harry sits with the file Connie collected from Asset K, the file that will reveal who the mole is within MI5. He opens it, to find the evidence marks him, Harry Pearce, as the mole.

Episode 7: Darkest Hour
With tensions between Russia and America running high over US plans to place missile defence shields in former Soviet countries, and the news that a Sugarhorse (MI5's top-secret operation with a long-term strategy to destabilise Russia's nuclear capability) asset has been found dead, Harry knows that Britain is caught in the middle of what could be a nuclear showdown.
To add to his troubles, Harry discovers that he has been framed as a Russian mole and that his arrest is imminent. He quickly takes pre-emptive action by asking Lucas to travel to Moscow to meet with an asset, Maria, who can gather key intelligence to save Britain - and Harry. Lucas agrees and leaves for Russia, just as Harry's house is stormed and he is arrested by MI5 for treason.
Harry is interrogated by Richard Dolby (DG of MI5), who accuses him of working for the Russians. He insists Harry disclose the names of his Sugarhorse assets, so that the Sugarhorse operation can be dissolved and the asssets lives saved before Russia can kill them. Harry refuses, explaining that they need the assets in place now more than ever. He explains that he has been set up by ex-MI5 officer, Bernard Qualtrough. Dolby is unconvinced but agrees to investigate Qualtrough. Back on the Grid, Dolby tells Ros the news of Harry's arrest. He asks her to inform the team that it's work as usual and that he wants them to investigate the death of the Sugarhorse asset. He also warns her that all comms are being monitored.
In Russia, Lucas has a successful meeting with Maria, although he discovers that the Russians are aware he is there. She informs him that the package is waiting for him in a bar. Inside he will find the microfilm he came for and a new identity so he can escape. Shortly after he leaves, Maria is murdered.
Realising he is not getting anywhere with Harry, Dolby sends in the formidable Charles Grady to continue the interrogation. Grady informs Harry that Qualtrough has not lived in Britain for over 20 years. The net is tightening around Harry, who is looking more and more culpable. He is stunned at the extent of Qualtrough's betrayal.
Ben notices an inconsistency in his investigation into the Sugarhorse asset's death, and goes to the archives to dig deeper. In Moscow, with the FSB closing in on him, Lucas arrives at the bar. He is relieved to find the package containing the microfilm and passport. He also discovers an incriminating photograph of Connie talking to the Russians. Connie James is the mole!
Lucas calls Ben. Ben answers the phone, unaware that Connie is behind him. Lucas tells him Connie is the mole, but Connie pulls out a knife and slits his throat.
After a visit from the Home Secretary, Harry finally confesses to working for the Russians. He personally apologises to Ros but manages to pass her a message. Ros decodes the message and uncovers a folder which proves Connie is the mole.
Harry is released and the team is distressed to learn that Connie murdered Ben. Thankfully, the names Harry gave were fakes. Connie is taken away and the team shares a moment of grief before discovering a message that the Sugarhorse asset sent before he was murdered: ‘Tiresias awakes at 3pm tomorrow'. What does it mean?

Episode 8: Rain From Heaven
With tensions between America and Russia at an all-time high, the team discovers that Britain is being used as a pawn in an international game of chess. Intelligence brought back from Moscow by Lucas reveals that Russia is planning an attack on London (codenamed Tiresias) and that it is scheduled to take place today. Tiresias is a network of silent saboteurs who have infiltrated all areas of British governance. Tiresias has a sole purpose: to cripple the United Kingdom when activated.
With the clock ticking, the team must find out in what form the attack is going to take. With everyone a potential Tiresias sleeper agent, there is only one person who can help them - Connie - and the team abducts her from MI5. She agrees to help them in exchange for freedom, and is shaken when the team tells her everything known so far about Tiresias. She reveals that the information they have uncovered is code for a nuclear bomb, a briefcase bomb, and that a Tiresias sleeper will have received the ‘go' signal earlier that day. Tens of thousands of Londoners will die, unless they get to the bomb and defuse it before 3pm. Connie also informs them, that as an insurance policy, she hid a Tiresias dossier in a dead-drop at London Bridge. The dossier contains details of all sleepers, and will tell them who is about to detonate the bomb, and where. The team has to get Connie to London Bridge and the dossier - immediately.
The FSB soon realise that it was MI5 who kidnapped their prize asset, Connie. They are instructed to get her back, dead or alive, before she co-operates. The Russians are in a strong position as Connie previously fed them information about all MI5 safe houses. As the team and Connie leave the safe house for London Bridge, it is already too late - the FSB are outside waiting for them. In a barrage of gunfire, the team manages to escape, but they are forced to split up. Lucas volunteers to act as a decoy, whilst Ros and Connie get moving. Harry goes back to the Grid to man the operation. It's a thrilling race against time to get Connie and themselves away from the Russians, safely through London and to the dossier. The team are all at their most vigilant and enterprising as they cross London using back alleys and underground tunnels, with the Russians gaining on them.
It's a high-risk strategy, but as the Russians are making ground and time is running out, Harry decides his only option is to meet the FSB operator, Sarkisian, to see if he can convince him to stop the chase. Harry tells Sarkisian about Tiresias and the bomb. It takes some convincing before Sarkisian believes Harry and orders his men to stand down. The FSB and MI5 are now in this together.
Connie gets to the dead drop with 10 minutes to spare, while the FSB find the briefcase bomb for her. Connie is now in control; only she can prevent the bomb from detonating. She manages to neutralise the nuclear element, but there is an unstoppable non-nuclear secondary device programmed to detonate if the bomb is tampered with. Connie tells Lucas and Ros to make a run for it while they can. Connie dies saving London, thus redeeming herself. However, despite working together, in an unexpected twist Harry is taken by Sarkisian...

Created by David Wolstencroft
Written by Neil Cross, Russell Lewis, Richard McBrien, James Moran, Christian Spurrier , David Farr
Produced by Katie Swinden
Executive Produced by Simon Crawford Collins, Jane Featherstone, Andrew Woodhead

"Rare is the returning British drama that gets you giddy but, back for its seventh series and resolving last year's big cliffhanger, Spooks returns triumphant. It's no secret that Ros is back, Adam is leaving and new boy Lucas North (Richard Armitage) has been rescued from a Russian prison, but how it all plays out is a delight." Gareth McLean, Guardian

"You can rely on Spooks to keep you up to speed on whos topping the league table of Britain's international enemies. So, Cold War nostalgics will no doubt relish the return of the pesky Ruskies to No1, though, in keeping with the confusing times we live in, al-Qaedas teen-terrorists have to be added into the mix, just to turn paranoia levels up to the max. Though it overplays the Queen-and-country card at times, Spooks combines slick action and spy suspense with a style and panache second to none on British TV. It builds a world where no one is indispensable and nothing is what it seems; a point underscored by the explosive departure of Adam Carter. Exit Rupert Penry-Jones and enter Richard Armitage which is quite a thought to conjure with." Keith Watson, London Metro

"An explosive start to the new series of Spooks delivers yet another of the massive shocks we've almost come to expect. But in an exceptionally dark episode, one of the more welcome surprises sees MI5 bolstered by former Robin Hood star Richard Armitage." Jane Simon, Daily Mirror

"...it's an unmissably breathless return for Britain's last line of defence against a dangerous world ...at the heart of the new series is a fiendishly diabolical plot being hatched by the spy chief of the FSB, Russia's intelligence service ... Little nods to reality in the way of energy industry deals and Chechen terrorism mean you can't dismiss it all as wild fantasy..." Ben Felsenburg, London Lite

"...this opener is undoubtedly explosive and ... flaunts British intelligence in every sense of the word." Victoria Segal, Sunday Times

"Another action-packed episode as the acclaimed espionage drama now enters its seventh series." Daily Express

"An exciting opener..." Gerard Gilbert, Independent

"...it's more like a Cold War reprise than ever, with lots of Le Carré-like sequences of meetings on bridges and double-triple agentry." Andrea Mullaney, Scotsman

"It's great to have Spooks back ... Already, a new threat from the pesky Russians is emerging that'll test them all. Don't be surprised, too, if you start questioning every BBC TV news report you see in future and wondering what the real story behind it might be." Jane Simon, Daily Mirror