Erin Watts is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 espionage

Espionage

Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...

 television series Spooks

Spooks

Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...

, which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...

 division in MI5

MI5

The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...

. She is portrayed by British actress Lara Pulver

Lara Pulver

Lara Pulver is an English actress who has received nominations for the 2008 Laurence Olivier Awards and 'Whatsonstage' Theatregoers Choice Awards.-Career:...

. The character was introduced in the first episode of the tenth series as the new Section Chief after having served in Harry Pearce

Harry Pearce

Sir Henry James "Harry" Pearce KBE is the fictional head of the Counter-Terrorism department of MI5, featured in the British television series, Spooks...

's job during his forced leave.

Role in Spooks

Erin was made acting head of the counter-terrorism division in MI5 while Harry was on forced leave following the Albany incident and the death of Section Chief Lucas North

Lucas North

Lucas North, formerly known as John Bateman, is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks , which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division of MI5. North is portrayed by British actor Richard Armitage...

. Erin made a mark in Section D by decommissioning Beth Bailey

Beth Bailey

Beth Bailey is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks, which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division in MI5. She is portrayed by British actress Sophia Myles. Beth Bailey was introduced in Spooks's ninth series as a private contractor in her...

due to her rather sinister past and her actions during the Westhouse operation. She later told Harry that she expected higher standards than that. She was also the one who hired Calum Reed into Section D.

She was forced to step down when Harry was reinstated on a probationary basis but was retained as Section Chief as part of the deal.