Series 9
The ninth series of Spooks originally aired on BBC One from the 20th September 2010 to 8th November 2010. It comprised 8 episodes.
Episode 1
Air date: 20th September 2010
Synopsis: At Ros’ funeral, Harry proposes to Ruth, but she turns him down before producing evidence that former Home Secretary, Nicholas Blake involved in Nightingale and ordered the bomb that killed Ros. Wanting revenge, Harry visits Blake in his Scottish home and kills him; he poisons his drink with a substance that will make it look as if he has had a heart attack. A month later, Lucas and new recruit Dimitri Levendis, board a freight ship to assassinate a Somali terrorist who is on board but before they can complete their mission the ship is hijacked by soldiers working for the terrorist. The ship has been loaded with explosives and they intend to sail into Plymouth to bomb the launch of the HMS Endurance. With the help of a private contractor, Beth Bailey, Lucas escapes and Dimitri kills the terrorist, but not before some of his soldiers have thrown the explosives overboard inside some submersibles that were on the ship. The team deduce that the Plymouth bombing was a ruse and that the submersibles are en-route up the Thames towards the House of Parliament. Unable to convince the terrorists UK contact to abort, Harry approves the launch of an EMP bomb underneath the Houses of Parliament, which disables the subs electrical systems before they can reach their target. In the end, Beth successfully applies to join the team, while Lucas is paid an unexpected visit by Vaughn Edwards, a shadowy character from Lucas's past, who leaves him with a briefcase and calls him ‘John’.
Episode 2
Air date: 27th September 2012
Synopsis: In her first operation, Beth is tasked with protecting an influential oil baron, Robert Westhouse, after receiving intelligence that he may be assassinated by Nigerian agents. In a London hotel, potential oil industry contacts, including an undercover Beth, are the subject of a machine gun attack in a lift. Beth and another contact, Jacob Chapman drop to the floor of the elevator a second before the attackers open fire, and survive unharmed. Lucas becomes suspicious, particularly about Beth's role so Dimitri and Lucas penetrate Westhouse's highly guarded mansion, and place a bug in the house. It becomes clear to MI-5 that the Nigerians want Westhouse dead because he plans to launch a chemical weapon attack against Lagos and precipitate a coup in order to monopolise the country's oil reserves. But they weren’t responsible for the attack on the oil barons; that was down to some agents of Colombians looking for revenge on Beth for her past dealings with them. Beth appears to work with Chapman, who turns out to be the assassin hired to kill Westhouse, but Lucas and Section D also discover that; Beth, however, successfully explains her subterfuge as "the way we used to work", and avoids any damage. Meanwhile, after Harry confronts Westhouse and takes the chemical weapons from him, Nigerian agents mistake him for Westhouse, and attempt to assassinate him. Beth pushes Harry out of the line of fire, saving his life. In the end, Lucas is promoted to Section Chief and finally looks into the briefcase Vaughn gave him and finds a photo of Maya Lahan, his first love. However, she does not want to be involved with him after he left her 15 years earlier.
Episode 3
Air date: 4th October 2010
Synopsis: After a discussion with the Home Secretary Townes, it becomes clear to Harry that one of the last remaining specimens of a deadly biological agent known as Paroxocybin is likely to fall into the hands of a rogue Azakstan nationalist. A joint MI-5/FSB operation succeeds in seizing the agent, and rendering harmless. However, Azis Aibek, an Azakstan terrorist, learns the whereabouts of the other remaining specimen; it is in London, with the exact whereabouts known only to Professor Kirby, a chemistry professor at a university there. Aibek figures out that Professor Kirby's daughter Meg may know where the agent is, and subjects her to water torture to get her to reveal the location. When Lucas, Beth, Dimitri, and FSB agent Viktor arrive, Aibek flees. But Viktor, with the other members of the team searching for Aibek, continues the torture, and extracts the location from Meg before killing her to prevent her from talking. Viktor wants to take the agent to the Russians in order to justify their invasion of Azakstan. With his daughter dead Harry gets Prof. Kirby to reveal its location to MI-5. A video is then forged to make the Russians think that Azakstan nationalists have the Paroxocybin, so they withdraw their forces from Azakstan. Meanwhile, Vaughn approaches Lucas asking him for an MI5 file named ‘Albany’.
Episode 4
Air date: 11th October 2010
Synopsis: A trio of highly skilled Chinese agents arrive in the UK to kidnap and assassinate Dr. Jiang, a scientist developing revolutionary desalination technology. Beth turns Kai, a diplomat in the Chinese embassy, into an asset while Lucas and Dimitri break into the Chinese embassy to steal information regarding the agents. Ruth goes undercover in the company's building to access their computers for Tariq, but Kai informs MI-5 of a bomb in the same building; Jiang is working there. MI-5 jams radio frequencies around the building to prevent remote detonation. Ruth, on learning of the bomb, locates Jiang but she is in the custody of CIA agents. They transfer Jiang to a safe house but the Chinese kidnap her. In response, MI-5 lets the Chinese intercept false intel through Kai indicating that the Home Secretary will authorise a breach of the embassy to rescue Jiang. The Chinese take the bait, and move Jiang, and Kai, who is under arrest, to the airport and the team intercepts taking Jiang and Kai back. The head of Chinese intelligence in London informs Harry that if they do not hand in Jiang back to the Chinese, they will detonate a bomb in London. Dimitri finds the bomb and disarms it with Tariq's help. Jiang is transferred to the CIA and Kai turns himself in to the Chinese embassy. Lucas obtains the Albany file by logging in to the network using the ID and password of Stephen Owen, another MI-5 agent. He also transfers a considerable amount of money into Owen's bank account, setting the agent up for a fall. Lucas delivers what he believes to be the Albany file to Vaughn and restarts his relationship with Maya.
Episode 5
Air date: 18th September 2010
Synopsis: While Beth and Dimitri go undercover during the US President's visit to chair top secret peace talks between Israel and Palestine, a plot to assassinate him is uncovered. Believing it is the work of Lebanese militant Muatt Hutri, Lucas tracks him but he escapes. Lucas visits Maya telling her that now they can be together. Hutri gives himself up to MI-5; after questioning he convinces Section D that he is in London to stop the assassination. Hutri informs MI-5 that the actual assassin, is Baltasar Jad, a Syrian. Jad captures Beth by knocking her out handcuffs her to a pipe in his workshop. He then heads to a local hospital, retrieves a hidden gun from the basement, and makes his way to the roof. Beth escapes and reports Jad's intentions. From the roof, Jad is attempting to perform an impossible shot from a building a mile and a half away to take out the president; shooting through the windows of a building between him and the hotel, but he is just a diversion. The actual assassin is Israeli Anna Cohen who plans to blow herself up with the president as revenge for her father's deserting her when she was once captured by Palestinians. Her father and Dimitri are able to talk her out of the plan. In the end, Lucas visits Maya's home but her boyfriend is there; it’s Vaughn and Lucas realises Vaughn has no intention of leaving him alone.
Episode 6
Air date: 25th September 2010
Synopsis: After an American drone is hacked by enemies in Afghanistan, the head of CIA London, Alton Beecher, pressures the Grid into installing the new advanced "cybershell" system. Lucas, who is being pressed by Vaughn into finding the Albany file, is tasked with transporting CIA cyber-expert Daniella Ortiz, who has the codes for the cybershell. However, Tariq discovers the Grid is bugged by a coalition of Russian and Chinese agents, who plan on sabotaging the cybershell. During a two-minute, faked power shortage that prevents the eavesdroppers from listening, Harry calls meeting to let the team know what they are up against. Lucas receives a call from Harry about a rendezvous point, but it is hackers who fabricated Harry's voice. After he picks up Daniella, Lucas observes that he is being followed; he drives to a garage where he and Daniella change cars to avoid the tail. Lucas makes an out-of-protocol detour to the house of Malcolm Wynn Jones to get his hands on the Albany file. Lucas fabricates a story, telling Malcolm that Harry is in trouble, and needs the file. While he is busy with Malcolm, Daniella flees. Lucas pursues her in the woods, and eventually finds her.]. Eventually, the hackers are located and apprehended. In the end, Vaughn tells Lucas the Albany file Lucas gave him (via Malcolm) is fake. Lucas returns to Malcolm's home, only to find the house cleaned out.
Episode 7
Air date: 1st November 2010
Synopsis: Ruth looks into a suspected dead drop witnessed by Council member Keith Deery. Her colleagues are sceptical that Deery has real evidence because he has a history of mental disorder and had applied for a position at MI-5 several times earlier but was rejected each time. Meanwhile, Dimitri is headed to the Thames to join the police as they pick up a Mafia boss who is giving himself up to the British authorities. Having tracked Lucas's keyboard, Ruth tells Harry that she suspects Lucas of treachery but Harry scolds her for her being ‘overzealous’. Ruth begins to sense that Deery may have stumbled onto a real crime. so she goes to his flat to investigate. A French assassin targeting the Mafia boss springs on Ruth, and tie her and Deery up. Ruth manages to free them and together they kill the assassin. Meanwhile, two Chinese operatives who are already in Vaughn's apartment when he enters; they tell him that if he doesn't deliver the Albany file, they will rape Maya then cut off her head. Vaughn kidnaps Maya in order to force Lucas to get the file. Harry, having revisited the 1995 bombing of the British Embassy in Dakar, realises that Lucas was involved and orders Beth to follow Lucas. He meets Vaughn but before he can find out Maya’s location, Beth pulls a gun on Lucas and Vaughn escapes. When Lucas is apprehended, it is revealed that he is in fact John Bateman, who unknowingly sent the bomb to the Embassy, killing 17 people. ‘Lucas’ tells Harry that Vaughn gave him the briefcase containing the bomb, and that he unknowingly planted it in the embassy in Dakar. He also recounts that he later killed the real Lucas North, who was soon to enter training for MI-5 took the identity of the dead Lucas North. He convinces Harry to release him and rescue Maya. He doesn’t keep his end of the bargain though and intends to flee.
Episode 8
Air date: 8th November 2010
Synopsis: Harry leads a manhunt to find and capture ‘Lucas’, and hires specialist and former MI-5 officer Alec White to help. With Vaughn dead, ‘Lucas’ makes a deal with Chinese agents for Albany. ‘Lucas’ meets the MI-5 team at a rendezvous point, where he kidnaps Ruth, throwing her into his van and driving away with her bound and gagged. He threatens to kill her using an anaesthetic drip unless Harry gives him Albany, which is finally revealed to be a blueprint of a genetic weapon that can be designed to target members of a specific ethnic group but is harmless to non-members. Harry gives in to the demand. The team finds Maya and Alec tells her about ‘Lucas’'s past actions. By doing so, Maya turns against ‘Lucas’, but Alec convinces her to wear a tracker and go with ‘Lucas’. After Maya convinces ‘Lucas’ to tell the team where Ruth is, the two escape from Beth and Dimitri, but Maya is mortally wounded in the shootout. Harry rescues Ruth but she tells him her life was not worth trading a state secret that could bring about so much destruction. Harry meets ‘Lucas’ on a rooftop, knowing that he intends to take revenge for Maya's death and kill him. It is then that Harry reveals to ‘Lucas’ that Albany never worked but they pretended it did and used it as a deterrent. ‘Lucas’ realises now that he has nothing to live for, he jumps to his death which upsets the other Grid characters. The episode ends with the Home Secretary revealing to Harry that because he gave away a state secret, there will be a full investigation into all of his whole career; including all his activities and decisions.
Episode 1
Air date: 20th September 2010
Synopsis: At Ros’ funeral, Harry proposes to Ruth, but she turns him down before producing evidence that former Home Secretary, Nicholas Blake involved in Nightingale and ordered the bomb that killed Ros. Wanting revenge, Harry visits Blake in his Scottish home and kills him; he poisons his drink with a substance that will make it look as if he has had a heart attack. A month later, Lucas and new recruit Dimitri Levendis, board a freight ship to assassinate a Somali terrorist who is on board but before they can complete their mission the ship is hijacked by soldiers working for the terrorist. The ship has been loaded with explosives and they intend to sail into Plymouth to bomb the launch of the HMS Endurance. With the help of a private contractor, Beth Bailey, Lucas escapes and Dimitri kills the terrorist, but not before some of his soldiers have thrown the explosives overboard inside some submersibles that were on the ship. The team deduce that the Plymouth bombing was a ruse and that the submersibles are en-route up the Thames towards the House of Parliament. Unable to convince the terrorists UK contact to abort, Harry approves the launch of an EMP bomb underneath the Houses of Parliament, which disables the subs electrical systems before they can reach their target. In the end, Beth successfully applies to join the team, while Lucas is paid an unexpected visit by Vaughn Edwards, a shadowy character from Lucas's past, who leaves him with a briefcase and calls him ‘John’.
Episode 2
Air date: 27th September 2012
Synopsis: In her first operation, Beth is tasked with protecting an influential oil baron, Robert Westhouse, after receiving intelligence that he may be assassinated by Nigerian agents. In a London hotel, potential oil industry contacts, including an undercover Beth, are the subject of a machine gun attack in a lift. Beth and another contact, Jacob Chapman drop to the floor of the elevator a second before the attackers open fire, and survive unharmed. Lucas becomes suspicious, particularly about Beth's role so Dimitri and Lucas penetrate Westhouse's highly guarded mansion, and place a bug in the house. It becomes clear to MI-5 that the Nigerians want Westhouse dead because he plans to launch a chemical weapon attack against Lagos and precipitate a coup in order to monopolise the country's oil reserves. But they weren’t responsible for the attack on the oil barons; that was down to some agents of Colombians looking for revenge on Beth for her past dealings with them. Beth appears to work with Chapman, who turns out to be the assassin hired to kill Westhouse, but Lucas and Section D also discover that; Beth, however, successfully explains her subterfuge as "the way we used to work", and avoids any damage. Meanwhile, after Harry confronts Westhouse and takes the chemical weapons from him, Nigerian agents mistake him for Westhouse, and attempt to assassinate him. Beth pushes Harry out of the line of fire, saving his life. In the end, Lucas is promoted to Section Chief and finally looks into the briefcase Vaughn gave him and finds a photo of Maya Lahan, his first love. However, she does not want to be involved with him after he left her 15 years earlier.
Episode 3
Air date: 4th October 2010
Synopsis: After a discussion with the Home Secretary Townes, it becomes clear to Harry that one of the last remaining specimens of a deadly biological agent known as Paroxocybin is likely to fall into the hands of a rogue Azakstan nationalist. A joint MI-5/FSB operation succeeds in seizing the agent, and rendering harmless. However, Azis Aibek, an Azakstan terrorist, learns the whereabouts of the other remaining specimen; it is in London, with the exact whereabouts known only to Professor Kirby, a chemistry professor at a university there. Aibek figures out that Professor Kirby's daughter Meg may know where the agent is, and subjects her to water torture to get her to reveal the location. When Lucas, Beth, Dimitri, and FSB agent Viktor arrive, Aibek flees. But Viktor, with the other members of the team searching for Aibek, continues the torture, and extracts the location from Meg before killing her to prevent her from talking. Viktor wants to take the agent to the Russians in order to justify their invasion of Azakstan. With his daughter dead Harry gets Prof. Kirby to reveal its location to MI-5. A video is then forged to make the Russians think that Azakstan nationalists have the Paroxocybin, so they withdraw their forces from Azakstan. Meanwhile, Vaughn approaches Lucas asking him for an MI5 file named ‘Albany’.
Episode 4
Air date: 11th October 2010
Synopsis: A trio of highly skilled Chinese agents arrive in the UK to kidnap and assassinate Dr. Jiang, a scientist developing revolutionary desalination technology. Beth turns Kai, a diplomat in the Chinese embassy, into an asset while Lucas and Dimitri break into the Chinese embassy to steal information regarding the agents. Ruth goes undercover in the company's building to access their computers for Tariq, but Kai informs MI-5 of a bomb in the same building; Jiang is working there. MI-5 jams radio frequencies around the building to prevent remote detonation. Ruth, on learning of the bomb, locates Jiang but she is in the custody of CIA agents. They transfer Jiang to a safe house but the Chinese kidnap her. In response, MI-5 lets the Chinese intercept false intel through Kai indicating that the Home Secretary will authorise a breach of the embassy to rescue Jiang. The Chinese take the bait, and move Jiang, and Kai, who is under arrest, to the airport and the team intercepts taking Jiang and Kai back. The head of Chinese intelligence in London informs Harry that if they do not hand in Jiang back to the Chinese, they will detonate a bomb in London. Dimitri finds the bomb and disarms it with Tariq's help. Jiang is transferred to the CIA and Kai turns himself in to the Chinese embassy. Lucas obtains the Albany file by logging in to the network using the ID and password of Stephen Owen, another MI-5 agent. He also transfers a considerable amount of money into Owen's bank account, setting the agent up for a fall. Lucas delivers what he believes to be the Albany file to Vaughn and restarts his relationship with Maya.
Episode 5
Air date: 18th September 2010
Synopsis: While Beth and Dimitri go undercover during the US President's visit to chair top secret peace talks between Israel and Palestine, a plot to assassinate him is uncovered. Believing it is the work of Lebanese militant Muatt Hutri, Lucas tracks him but he escapes. Lucas visits Maya telling her that now they can be together. Hutri gives himself up to MI-5; after questioning he convinces Section D that he is in London to stop the assassination. Hutri informs MI-5 that the actual assassin, is Baltasar Jad, a Syrian. Jad captures Beth by knocking her out handcuffs her to a pipe in his workshop. He then heads to a local hospital, retrieves a hidden gun from the basement, and makes his way to the roof. Beth escapes and reports Jad's intentions. From the roof, Jad is attempting to perform an impossible shot from a building a mile and a half away to take out the president; shooting through the windows of a building between him and the hotel, but he is just a diversion. The actual assassin is Israeli Anna Cohen who plans to blow herself up with the president as revenge for her father's deserting her when she was once captured by Palestinians. Her father and Dimitri are able to talk her out of the plan. In the end, Lucas visits Maya's home but her boyfriend is there; it’s Vaughn and Lucas realises Vaughn has no intention of leaving him alone.
Episode 6
Air date: 25th September 2010
Synopsis: After an American drone is hacked by enemies in Afghanistan, the head of CIA London, Alton Beecher, pressures the Grid into installing the new advanced "cybershell" system. Lucas, who is being pressed by Vaughn into finding the Albany file, is tasked with transporting CIA cyber-expert Daniella Ortiz, who has the codes for the cybershell. However, Tariq discovers the Grid is bugged by a coalition of Russian and Chinese agents, who plan on sabotaging the cybershell. During a two-minute, faked power shortage that prevents the eavesdroppers from listening, Harry calls meeting to let the team know what they are up against. Lucas receives a call from Harry about a rendezvous point, but it is hackers who fabricated Harry's voice. After he picks up Daniella, Lucas observes that he is being followed; he drives to a garage where he and Daniella change cars to avoid the tail. Lucas makes an out-of-protocol detour to the house of Malcolm Wynn Jones to get his hands on the Albany file. Lucas fabricates a story, telling Malcolm that Harry is in trouble, and needs the file. While he is busy with Malcolm, Daniella flees. Lucas pursues her in the woods, and eventually finds her.]. Eventually, the hackers are located and apprehended. In the end, Vaughn tells Lucas the Albany file Lucas gave him (via Malcolm) is fake. Lucas returns to Malcolm's home, only to find the house cleaned out.
Episode 7
Air date: 1st November 2010
Synopsis: Ruth looks into a suspected dead drop witnessed by Council member Keith Deery. Her colleagues are sceptical that Deery has real evidence because he has a history of mental disorder and had applied for a position at MI-5 several times earlier but was rejected each time. Meanwhile, Dimitri is headed to the Thames to join the police as they pick up a Mafia boss who is giving himself up to the British authorities. Having tracked Lucas's keyboard, Ruth tells Harry that she suspects Lucas of treachery but Harry scolds her for her being ‘overzealous’. Ruth begins to sense that Deery may have stumbled onto a real crime. so she goes to his flat to investigate. A French assassin targeting the Mafia boss springs on Ruth, and tie her and Deery up. Ruth manages to free them and together they kill the assassin. Meanwhile, two Chinese operatives who are already in Vaughn's apartment when he enters; they tell him that if he doesn't deliver the Albany file, they will rape Maya then cut off her head. Vaughn kidnaps Maya in order to force Lucas to get the file. Harry, having revisited the 1995 bombing of the British Embassy in Dakar, realises that Lucas was involved and orders Beth to follow Lucas. He meets Vaughn but before he can find out Maya’s location, Beth pulls a gun on Lucas and Vaughn escapes. When Lucas is apprehended, it is revealed that he is in fact John Bateman, who unknowingly sent the bomb to the Embassy, killing 17 people. ‘Lucas’ tells Harry that Vaughn gave him the briefcase containing the bomb, and that he unknowingly planted it in the embassy in Dakar. He also recounts that he later killed the real Lucas North, who was soon to enter training for MI-5 took the identity of the dead Lucas North. He convinces Harry to release him and rescue Maya. He doesn’t keep his end of the bargain though and intends to flee.
Episode 8
Air date: 8th November 2010
Synopsis: Harry leads a manhunt to find and capture ‘Lucas’, and hires specialist and former MI-5 officer Alec White to help. With Vaughn dead, ‘Lucas’ makes a deal with Chinese agents for Albany. ‘Lucas’ meets the MI-5 team at a rendezvous point, where he kidnaps Ruth, throwing her into his van and driving away with her bound and gagged. He threatens to kill her using an anaesthetic drip unless Harry gives him Albany, which is finally revealed to be a blueprint of a genetic weapon that can be designed to target members of a specific ethnic group but is harmless to non-members. Harry gives in to the demand. The team finds Maya and Alec tells her about ‘Lucas’'s past actions. By doing so, Maya turns against ‘Lucas’, but Alec convinces her to wear a tracker and go with ‘Lucas’. After Maya convinces ‘Lucas’ to tell the team where Ruth is, the two escape from Beth and Dimitri, but Maya is mortally wounded in the shootout. Harry rescues Ruth but she tells him her life was not worth trading a state secret that could bring about so much destruction. Harry meets ‘Lucas’ on a rooftop, knowing that he intends to take revenge for Maya's death and kill him. It is then that Harry reveals to ‘Lucas’ that Albany never worked but they pretended it did and used it as a deterrent. ‘Lucas’ realises now that he has nothing to live for, he jumps to his death which upsets the other Grid characters. The episode ends with the Home Secretary revealing to Harry that because he gave away a state secret, there will be a full investigation into all of his whole career; including all his activities and decisions.