Spy drama Spooks returns to BBC One this autumn for a ninth series.

> Buy the Series 9 boxset on Amazon.

 

Episode 1
Monday 20th September 2010

The team at Section D is in mourning following the tragic death of Ros Myers, who was killed in an explosion while trying to save the British Home Secretary. Section Chief Harry Pearce is hit particularly hard by the loss and he’s dismayed to learn that a trusted friend has blood on their hands. Harry wants revenge and will stop at nothing to get it.

One month later, Lucas North boards a ship in Tangier to track rising Somalian Al Qaeda star, Abib. Alongside Lucas is Special Boat Service (SBS) agent Dimitri Levendes, who is masquerading as the ship’s captain. An unexpected interruption from what appears to be Somali pirates puts Lucas in mortal danger. His unlikely saviour is an Eastern European prostitute, who he later discovers is undercover mercenary Beth Bailey, also sent to track Abib. The pirates are a much bigger threat than first anticipated – they are in fact an Al Qaeda cell who have smuggled explosives onboard and are headed for the UK.

After escaping the ship and returning to London, Lucas and the rest of Section D concentrate on stopping the floating bomb. Beth, who is keen for a job on the Grid, turns up unexpectedly with information about the boat. Harry remembers Beth from the past and is unsure whether she can be trusted but, with time running out, the team has no other option. Harry is forced into taking drastic action to prevent a terrorist attack that could hit Britain at its very heart – the Houses of Parliament. Meanwhile, Lucas is shocked when he is visited by an unwelcome ghost from his past.

 

Episode 2
Monday 27th September 2010

Beth Bailey is thrown in at the deep end on her first operation with Section D. She goes undercover as an oil trader at a secret meeting of Britain’s top oil dealers. After receiving intelligence that Robert Westhouse, an influential oil baron, is the subject of an assassination attempt, Beth is tasked with protecting him.

Before they’ve even arrived at the meeting, the oil traders are attacked in a machine gun massacre. Only Beth and a man named Jacob Chapman survive. Assuming the attack is related to the planned assassination, Section D set to work on uncovering the culprit. However, Ruth Evershed digs deeper into the case and is shocked to discover a link between one of her colleagues and the masked gunmen.

Elsewhere, Harry Pearce and Lucas North become suspicious of Westhouse and launch a secret surveillance operation on his mansion. They soon discover that Westhouse has arranged to take possession of a deadly ex-Soviet nerve agent and is planning an attack, with potentially catastrophic consequences. It’s a race against time as Harry must ensure Westhouse’s plans are halted before they cause irreversible damage.

Meanwhile, Lucas is reunited with an old flame, Maya, who he hasn’t seen for 15 years. With emotions highly charged after so much time, how will Maya respond to Lucas re-entering her life?

 

Episode 3
Monday 4th October 2010

Lucas and FSB officer Viktor Barenshik succeed in destroying the sample, but Lucas is shocked when the AFF members are mercilessly killed by the Russian agents. Back in London, Section D become aware of a member of the AFF, Aibek, who has got away; leading Harry to make the controversial decision to let him run.

Section D soon get intelligence that Aibek is on his way to London in search of a second sample of Paroxocybin held by British scientist Stephen Kirby. As Aibek arrives in the capital he is picked up by the team who realise that Harry’s earlier decision could have terrifying consequences for national security. While trying to locate Aibek they are led to Kirkby’s office, but it’s too late; they find Kirby alone and beaten.

Lucas, Beth and Viktor follow Aibek’s trail through London, desperate to get to him before he finds the Paroxocybin. Meanwhile, Viktor’s behaviour exposes him as untrustworthy and it’s soon clear that he has his own plans for the nerve gas. With time running out, the team have to work quickly before London becomes victim to a biological weapon that has the potential to wipe out the entire city in hours.

 

Episode 4
Monday 11th October 2010

When a Chinese snatch team arrive in London for a 48-hour visit, Section D’s suspicion is aroused. This causes Beth Bailey to call on the services of Kai, a Chinese Security Services agent who she has been grooming to help infiltrate security. Ruth Evershed goes undercover at QMK, a research facility, and discovers that the Chinese are looking for Jiang Lee, a scientist who has discovered a de-salinisation technique worth billions. Desperate to get hold of Lee, the Chinese will stop at nothing, but the UK cannot afford to lose an intellectual property of such value.

Meanwhile, a bomb is reported at QMK and Ruth quickly evacuates with Jiang Lee. However, it soon becomes clear that the bomb was merely a ruse to get Lee out in the open, and the team begin to believe that Kai might be a triple agent.

Later, there is suspicion from Section D on receiving a second bomb threat, but when they investigate they discover a bomb in central London. With minutes to spare they are under pressure to stop a catastrophic explosion and ensure Jiang Lee stays on British soil. Amid the chaos, Lucas and Maya’s relationship intensifies and he becomes increasingly distant from the team. Are Lucas’s loyalties beginning to change as his past catches up with him?

 

Episode 5
Monday 18th October 2010

In a move to bring peace to Palestine and Israel, the American President is en route to London to chair secret talks between peace negotiators from both countries. Beth Bailey and Dimitri Levendis go undercover as Home Office liaison officers at the talks, while the rest of Section D are tasked with ensuring nothing will jeopardise the long-awaited occasion.

Preparations appear to be going smoothly until a journalist threatens to run the story. Ruth Evershed convinces her not to print it but the implications are clear: someone does not want the peace talks to go ahead. The team frantically search for the source of the leak and Tariq Masood goes to work on tracing calls made to the journalist.

Lucas North picks up the trail and makes several discoveries which indicate the culprit has only one agenda – assassination. With the murder of the US President a very real threat, Section D must find the suspect before they are faced with an international scandal of unimaginable proportions.

With time running out, Harry Pearce and his team are put under immense pressure to locate the sniper and ensure the President is not put at risk. As events unfold it becomes clear that the real threat to the President is much closer than anyone had realised.

 

Episode 6
Monday 25th October 2010

When British security is compromised resulting in a fatal American drone attack on a US army camp, the head of the CIA travels to The Grid. Relations between MI5 and the CIA are fraught and Harry Pearce agrees that Section D and the rest of MI5 will use the USA’s security system, Cybershell, to avoid further security breaches.

Meanwhile, Lucas North is tasked with protecting ex-hacker-turned-White-House-cryptographer Daniella Ortiz. She has the codes to start Cybershell and Lucas must ensure her safe delivery to MI5.

Back on The Grid, Tariq Masood discovers that their computer systems have been hacked into by suspected Russian and Chinese hackers who can see and hear every move they make. However, once the perpetrators have realised that Tariq and the rest of Section D are aware they have been bugged, the hackers put The Grid’s computer systems on lockdown. If Ortiz is successful in delivering the codes, Russia and China will have unlimited access to MI5 and the CIA’s entire catalogue of intelligence; the consequences are unfathomable.

Elsewhere, Lucas encounters several problems on his journey and has to make a tough decision. Will his personal life and the secret he’s so desperately trying to hide take priority over his work at MI5?

 

Episode 7
Monday 1st November 2010

Ruth Evershed is approached by official council snooper Keith Deery, who claims to have uncovered covert activity. While following a woman under surveillance for minor offences, he witnesses a “dead drop” message left on a park bench, but Ruth brushes off his claims as nonsense. However, Ruth later discovers that Deery has applied to MI5 four times but was rejected due to mental instability following his wife’s death. Having recently been reminded of the life she left behind in Greece, Ruth is empathetic to his circumstances and starts to question her original dismissiveness. Her Section D colleague, Dimitri, advises her to trust her instincts and follow up the potential lead.

Ruth heads to Deery’s flat as Dimitri is sent to look into the death of a Mafia leader whose body has been uncovered on a boat on the Thames. Arriving at Deery’s seemingly empty flat, Ruth is greeted by Gilles Rigaut, ex-French Foreign Legion and known contract killer. Rigaut is interrogating Deery and viciously attacks Ruth to discover what she knows.

As Dimitri pieces the complicated jigsaw together he realises that Ruth has become embroiled in something very dangerous and the team quickly rush to her aid. However, at Deery’s flat things are already out of hand and untrained Deery is forced into a terrifying decision when Ruth’s life is put in jeopardy. Elsewhere, Lucas North’s past finally comes crashing down on him as he comes face to face with Harry Pearce in a confrontation that will change Section D for ever.

 

Episode 8
Monday 8th November 2010

Section D face their toughest challenge yet when they are tasked with tracking one of their own. Following Lucas North’s shocking revelations about his former life and double identity, Harry Pearce instructs the team to find him – at any cost. As one of MI5’s most skilled spies, Lucas is not an easy man to find.

Harry enlists the help of ex-internal affairs specialist Alec White who promises to locate the fugitive, while the rest of the team struggle to understand why he would betray them. Out on the run, Lucas is getting increasingly desperate to track down the Albany file and also to flee the country with the love of his life, Maya Lahan. It seems that he doesn’t care who or what gets in his way.

Meanwhile, Harry discovers Ruth Evershed has been put in grave danger and he is forced to choose between his loyalty to MI5 and his heart. This decision culminates in an emotional showdown when he finally comes face to face with Lucas, with shocking consequences.