The Tip-Off
Encyclopedia
"The Tip-Off" is the third episode of series seven of the British
espionage
television series Spooks
, and the 58th episode overall. It was originally broadcast on digital channel BBC Three
on 28 October 2008, and repeated on frontline channel BBC One
on 3 November. The episode was written by Russell Lewis
; with additional writing by Ben Richards
; and directed by Peter Hoar. In the episode, Ben Kaplan
(Alex Lanipekun
) goes undercover to infiltrate an Al-Qaeda
cell in London
during a dry run
before an expected attack. However, it later becomes apparent the terrorists are going to attack during the dry run.
Actor Alex Lanipekun believed the episode became a sort of "coming of age" for his character, as he had to deal with issues dealing with undercover operations including not to get close to a terrorist. The episode introduces the "Sugarhorse" story arc, which continues through to the series finale. In making the scene where Lucas North was waterboarded, Richard Armitage
who portrays him was subjected to the actual torture to ensure the scene's authenticity. It was seen by over five million viewers after its original broadcast, and was given generally positive reviews. However, it received criticism for featuring the waterboarding scene.
(Hermione Norris
) introduces Lucas North
(Richard Armitage
) to one of Adam Carter
's assets
, Pakistani intelligence officer Marlin (Emilio Doorgasingh). Marlin has information about a planned attack by Al-Qaeda
; a cell intends to create Internet
chatter, followed by a dry run
, after which they will commence a series of suicide attack
s. The ringleader behind this is Nadif Abdelrashid (Ariyon Bakare
) who was previously responsible for similar attacks in Turkey
and Somalia
. Ben Kaplan
is in his first undercover operation disguised as a recent convert to Islam
and becomes part of the cell. As part of his cover, Ben shares a flat with Jawad (Tariq Jordan), another member. However, over the course of the operation Ben becomes close to Jawad, which Ben's handler
Lucas advises against, as Jawad is not an innocent.
When Malcolm Wynn-Jones
(Hugh Simon
) discovers the chatter, Ben relays to the team that the dry run will commence the following day. On the day, Ben finds that Abdelrashid intends to carry out the attack ahead of schedule and during the dry run after Ben, Jawad, and two other men are given bombs. Ben relays this message to Lucas. Ros dispatches CO19
to apprehend Abdelrachid in his office, who intends to remote detonate the bombs. Another CO19 squad, as well as Lucas and Jo Portman
(Miranda Raison
) follow the cell members to a street market, which they will use to maximise civilian casualties. Ben admits he is MI5
to Jawad, who runs in panic and attempts to manually detonate his bomb; this results in getting gunned down by CO19 officers, much to Ben's dismay. After stopping another two bombs, Jawad's mobile phone
rings, revealing Abdelrashid is not the "Mr. Big"; it is Marlin. He remote detonates the last bomb, killing the terrorist and the two CO19 officers holding him.
Although one bomb did detonate, Harry Pearce
(Peter Firth
) views the operation a success, as the other three did not, and no civilians were killed. Ben tells Lucas he was right about Jawad; he chose to become a bomber over seeing his family. Lucas receives a call from Marlin, who asks to meet with him. During the confrontation, Marlin admits he was forced to become Mr. Big when terrorists kidnapped his family. Now knowing he has failed, he commits suicide.
In a subplot, rainwater falls onto Lucas's face, which triggers a flashback
where he was tortured by FSB interrogators during his eight year imprisonment in Russia
. The interrogators question him on "Sugarhorse." Lucas relays this to Harry, who claims not knowing what Sugarhorse is. However, he later visits a retired spycatcher Bernard Qualtrough
(Richard Johnson
) believing there is high level mole
within MI5. He only reveals that Sugarhorse is MI5's "best kept secret" that only five people, including Richard Dolby (Robert East
), the Director General, and himself, know the details of. Harry later returns to Qualtrough's bookstore to find out who the mole might be, starting by looking into Dolby's file.
, with additional writing by Ben Richards
. Ben Kaplan became the central character of the episode. Actor Alex Lanipekin, who portrays Ben, stated that "The Tip-Off" was a "kind of a coming of age" for the character, dealing with his first undercover operation. Lanipekun expanded:
The episode also introduces a story-arc, about Sugarhorse, that would be resolved by the end of the seventh series. Hermione Norris describes Sugarhorse as "a group of spies who were brought together after the ending of the cold war to infiltrate, at the highest level, all forms of Russian intelligence so that if a nuclear power ever came into being and was at the hands of the Russian people, MI5 and MI6 could infiltrate it and stop it." The cast read the brief on Sugarhorse, but were then told to shred it in order to maintain its secrecy from fans.
In a flashback sequence of the episode, Lucas is subjected to waterboarding
, a method of torture. In order to ensure the authenticity of the sequence, Armitage was subjected to the actual torture. He agreed to perform the sequence after he was convinced by consultants from the FSB and CIA
. Armitage was only waterboarded for a short time, and was filmed in slow motion
to make it appear as if he was on for longer. Kudos film and television
, the production company behind Spooks, had to follow several health and sefety provisions from an advisor to ensure the sequence strictly adheres to the advice. The advisor and a medic were present during filming. The ambient temperature of the room was raised to make Armitage as comfortable as possible. However, after the sequence was shot, Armitage changed his opinion entirely, stating; "I only lasted five to ten seconds, and the sound of my voice crying out to stop isn't me acting."
from 11 pm on Tuesday, 28 October 2008, after the broadcast of the second episode on BBC One
. The episode would later be repeated on BBC One on Monday, 3 November 2008 during the 9 pm to 10 pm time slot
, except in Northern Ireland
, where it was withheld until 10:35 pm. There is no ratings data available for the BBC Three broadcast. On the BBC One broadcast, the episode was seen by 5.2 million viewers, an improvement of 140,000 from the previous episode, with a 21.6 per cent audience share, winning its time slot against the return of detective series Taggart
on ITV1
, and other terrestrial channels. According to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, the episode received final viewing figures of 5.59 million, making the episode the 17th most seen broadcast on BBC One, and 32nd in overall television the week it was shown.
Mof Gimmers of TV Scoop was positive towards the episode, calling it "a tense week for Section D" and added "our guys did a pretty good job." Gimmers also thought Ben "did well on his first undercover mission too, didn't you think? Apart from verging on sympathy for the young brainwashed bombers. Still, he's young. He'll get over it." On Ros' role in the episode, Gimmers said "I don't think I'll ever be able to say I'm "warming" to such an ice queen as Ros, but I will admit to a growing admiration." Scott Matthewman of The Stage
stated "the seventh series of the spy show continues apace," and praised the episode for "the superb performance of Hermione Norris as Ros Myers, fast becoming the twisted moral centre of the show. Both she and Peter Firth's Harry Pearce get some great dialogue every week, so it's a shame that the rest of the cast aren’t afforded the same luxury."
The Guardian
columnist Zoe Williams
criticised the actual waterboarding in the torture scene, saying "it's really unpleasant, [Armitage] concurred. 'I only lasted five to 10 seconds, and the sound of my voice crying out to stop isn't me acting.' Pal, that's nice that you're not showing off but this is all wrong and despicable: it's like locking yourself and 10 friends into a loo on a commuter train, to see what it would be like on the train to Auschwitz. If you can make it stop whenever you like, you're learning nothing and kicking people in the face while you're at it."
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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...
, and the 58th episode overall. It was originally broadcast on digital channel BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
on 28 October 2008, and repeated on frontline channel BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 3 November. The episode was written by Russell Lewis
Russell Lewis
- Career :Lewis began his career as a child actor, first appearing in the 1969 film adaptation of The Looking Glass War. He also starred as George Gathercole in The Kids from 47A...
; with additional writing by Ben Richards
Ben Richards (writer)
Ben Richards is an English writer, born in 1964. Before writing novels and TV dramas, he worked for three years as a housing officer in Newham and Islington, London...
; and directed by Peter Hoar. In the episode, Ben Kaplan
Ben Kaplan
Ben Kaplan DSO, portrayed by Alex Lanipekun was a starring character in the British spy series, Spooks.- Appearances :Ben Kaplan first appeared in Series 6, Episode 5 as a freelance journalist who was in a relationship with Jo Portman. He tried to expose what was going on with MI5's and Section D's...
(Alex Lanipekun
Alex Lanipekun
Alex Lanipekun is a British Actor of Nigerian and Italian/English origin. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but left early to join the cast of the BBC drama Spooks as journalist come spy Ben Kaplan. In 2007 he won the prestigious Carleton Hobbs Award, joining the BBC Radio Drama Rep...
) goes undercover to infiltrate an Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
cell in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during a dry run
Dry run (terrorism)
A dry run is an act committed by a terrorist organization without carrying out any actual terrorism in an attempt to determine whether a technique they are planning to use will be successful. The dry run is part of the rehearsal for a terrorist act, and is often the immediate precursor to the attack...
before an expected attack. However, it later becomes apparent the terrorists are going to attack during the dry run.
Actor Alex Lanipekun believed the episode became a sort of "coming of age" for his character, as he had to deal with issues dealing with undercover operations including not to get close to a terrorist. The episode introduces the "Sugarhorse" story arc, which continues through to the series finale. In making the scene where Lucas North was waterboarded, Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage (actor)
Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
who portrays him was subjected to the actual torture to ensure the scene's authenticity. It was seen by over five million viewers after its original broadcast, and was given generally positive reviews. However, it received criticism for featuring the waterboarding scene.
Plot
Chief of Section D Ros MyersRos Myers
Rosalind "Ros" Sarah Myers was 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 Hermione Norris. The character was a former MI6 officer who works with MI5 in the...
(Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris is an English actress.Norris attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet...
) introduces 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...
(Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage (actor)
Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
) to one of Adam Carter
Adam Carter
Adam Henry Carter is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks, which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division of MI5. He is portrayed by British actor Rupert Penry-Jones...
's assets
Asset (intelligence)
In intelligence, assets are persons within organizations or countries that are being spied upon who provide information for an outside spy.There are different categories of assets, including people...
, Pakistani intelligence officer Marlin (Emilio Doorgasingh). Marlin has information about a planned attack by Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
; a cell intends to create Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
chatter, followed by a dry run
Dry run (terrorism)
A dry run is an act committed by a terrorist organization without carrying out any actual terrorism in an attempt to determine whether a technique they are planning to use will be successful. The dry run is part of the rehearsal for a terrorist act, and is often the immediate precursor to the attack...
, after which they will commence a series of suicide attack
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
s. The ringleader behind this is Nadif Abdelrashid (Ariyon Bakare
Ariyon Bakare
Ariyon Debo Bakare is an English actor best known for his roles in the British soap opera Family Affairs from 2000 to 2001 and the BBC One daytime drama Doctors from 2001 to 2005. Prior to this, Bakare guested on British dramas The Bill, Casualty and Holby City respectivelyAfter leaving Doctors,...
) who was previously responsible for similar attacks in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
. Ben Kaplan
Ben Kaplan
Ben Kaplan DSO, portrayed by Alex Lanipekun was a starring character in the British spy series, Spooks.- Appearances :Ben Kaplan first appeared in Series 6, Episode 5 as a freelance journalist who was in a relationship with Jo Portman. He tried to expose what was going on with MI5's and Section D's...
is in his first undercover operation disguised as a recent convert to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and becomes part of the cell. As part of his cover, Ben shares a flat with Jawad (Tariq Jordan), another member. However, over the course of the operation Ben becomes close to Jawad, which Ben's handler
Agent handling
In intelligence organizations, agent handling is the management of agents, principal agents, and agent networks by intelligence officers typically known as case officers.-Human intelligence:...
Lucas advises against, as Jawad is not an innocent.
When Malcolm Wynn-Jones
Malcolm Wynn-Jones
Malcolm Wynn-Jones was the fictional MI5 analyst, featured in the British television series Spooks, also known as MI5 in the United States. Malcolm was played by Hugh Simon from the start of Spooks in 2002 until the character was retired at the start of Series 8 in 2009...
(Hugh Simon
Hugh Simon
Hugh Simon is a British actor, best known for his portrayal of the character Malcolm Wynn-Jones in the television series Spooks. His other TV credits include Shackleton, Attachments, Cold Feet, North Square, Big Bad World, and "Unusual Suspects" .He has also appeared onstage, as in the 2005 London...
) discovers the chatter, Ben relays to the team that the dry run will commence the following day. On the day, Ben finds that Abdelrashid intends to carry out the attack ahead of schedule and during the dry run after Ben, Jawad, and two other men are given bombs. Ben relays this message to Lucas. Ros dispatches CO19
Specialist Firearms Command
Central Operations Specialist Firearms Command is a Central Operations branch within Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Command is responsible for providing a firearms-response capability, assisting the rest of the service, which is normally unarmed...
to apprehend Abdelrachid in his office, who intends to remote detonate the bombs. Another CO19 squad, as well as Lucas and Jo Portman
Jo Portman
Joanna "Jo" Portman was a fictional Field Operative in the Counter-Terrorism department at MI5, featured in the British television series, Spooks, also known as MI5 in the United States. She was played by Miranda Raison...
(Miranda Raison
Miranda Raison
-Early life:Born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, her father Nick Raison is a jazz pianist and artist, while her mother Caroline read the news for Anglia Television. She has two brothers and two sisters: Ed , Rosie, Sam and May. Her parents divorced when she was six years old, and her father remarried...
) follow the cell members to a street market, which they will use to maximise civilian casualties. Ben admits he is 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...
to Jawad, who runs in panic and attempts to manually detonate his bomb; this results in getting gunned down by CO19 officers, much to Ben's dismay. After stopping another two bombs, Jawad's mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
rings, revealing Abdelrashid is not the "Mr. Big"; it is Marlin. He remote detonates the last bomb, killing the terrorist and the two CO19 officers holding him.
Although one bomb did detonate, 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...
(Peter Firth
Peter Firth
Peter Firth is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC show Spooks, of which he is the only actor to have starred in every episode of the show's 10 series lifespan...
) views the operation a success, as the other three did not, and no civilians were killed. Ben tells Lucas he was right about Jawad; he chose to become a bomber over seeing his family. Lucas receives a call from Marlin, who asks to meet with him. During the confrontation, Marlin admits he was forced to become Mr. Big when terrorists kidnapped his family. Now knowing he has failed, he commits suicide.
In a subplot, rainwater falls onto Lucas's face, which triggers a flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
where he was tortured by FSB interrogators during his eight year imprisonment in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The interrogators question him on "Sugarhorse." Lucas relays this to Harry, who claims not knowing what Sugarhorse is. However, he later visits a retired spycatcher Bernard Qualtrough
Bernard Qualtrough
Bernard Qualtrough is a fictional British spy appearing in series 7 of the BBC television drama Spooks . The character was played by Richard Johnson....
(Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson (actor)
Richard Johnson is an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career. He most recently appeared in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.-Life and career:...
) believing there is high level mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
within MI5. He only reveals that Sugarhorse is MI5's "best kept secret" that only five people, including Richard Dolby (Robert East
Robert East (actor)
Robert Gwyn East East is an accomplished theatre and tv actor. He also wrote Incident at Tulse Hill, first produced at the Hampstead Theatre in December 1981 under the direction of Harold Pinter....
), the Director General, and himself, know the details of. Harry later returns to Qualtrough's bookstore to find out who the mole might be, starting by looking into Dolby's file.
Production
The episode was written by Russell LewisRussell Lewis
- Career :Lewis began his career as a child actor, first appearing in the 1969 film adaptation of The Looking Glass War. He also starred as George Gathercole in The Kids from 47A...
, with additional writing by Ben Richards
Ben Richards (writer)
Ben Richards is an English writer, born in 1964. Before writing novels and TV dramas, he worked for three years as a housing officer in Newham and Islington, London...
. Ben Kaplan became the central character of the episode. Actor Alex Lanipekin, who portrays Ben, stated that "The Tip-Off" was a "kind of a coming of age" for the character, dealing with his first undercover operation. Lanipekun expanded:
The episode also introduces a story-arc, about Sugarhorse, that would be resolved by the end of the seventh series. Hermione Norris describes Sugarhorse as "a group of spies who were brought together after the ending of the cold war to infiltrate, at the highest level, all forms of Russian intelligence so that if a nuclear power ever came into being and was at the hands of the Russian people, MI5 and MI6 could infiltrate it and stop it." The cast read the brief on Sugarhorse, but were then told to shred it in order to maintain its secrecy from fans.
In a flashback sequence of the episode, Lucas is subjected to waterboarding
Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
, a method of torture. In order to ensure the authenticity of the sequence, Armitage was subjected to the actual torture. He agreed to perform the sequence after he was convinced by consultants from the FSB and CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
. Armitage was only waterboarded for a short time, and was filmed in slow motion
Slow motion
Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....
to make it appear as if he was on for longer. Kudos film and television
Kudos (production company)
Kudos Film and Television is a British independent film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and its productions include Spooks , Hustle, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard and M.I. High...
, the production company behind Spooks, had to follow several health and sefety provisions from an advisor to ensure the sequence strictly adheres to the advice. The advisor and a medic were present during filming. The ambient temperature of the room was raised to make Armitage as comfortable as possible. However, after the sequence was shot, Armitage changed his opinion entirely, stating; "I only lasted five to ten seconds, and the sound of my voice crying out to stop isn't me acting."
Broadcast and reception
The episode was originally broadcast on the digital channel BBC ThreeBBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
from 11 pm on Tuesday, 28 October 2008, after the broadcast of the second episode on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. The episode would later be repeated on BBC One on Monday, 3 November 2008 during the 9 pm to 10 pm time slot
Time division multiple access
Time division multiple access is a channel access method for shared medium networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different time slots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using its own time slot. This...
, except in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, where it was withheld until 10:35 pm. There is no ratings data available for the BBC Three broadcast. On the BBC One broadcast, the episode was seen by 5.2 million viewers, an improvement of 140,000 from the previous episode, with a 21.6 per cent audience share, winning its time slot against the return of detective series Taggart
Taggart
Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...
on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
, and other terrestrial channels. According to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, the episode received final viewing figures of 5.59 million, making the episode the 17th most seen broadcast on BBC One, and 32nd in overall television the week it was shown.
Mof Gimmers of TV Scoop was positive towards the episode, calling it "a tense week for Section D" and added "our guys did a pretty good job." Gimmers also thought Ben "did well on his first undercover mission too, didn't you think? Apart from verging on sympathy for the young brainwashed bombers. Still, he's young. He'll get over it." On Ros' role in the episode, Gimmers said "I don't think I'll ever be able to say I'm "warming" to such an ice queen as Ros, but I will admit to a growing admiration." Scott Matthewman of The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
stated "the seventh series of the spy show continues apace," and praised the episode for "the superb performance of Hermione Norris as Ros Myers, fast becoming the twisted moral centre of the show. Both she and Peter Firth's Harry Pearce get some great dialogue every week, so it's a shame that the rest of the cast aren’t afforded the same luxury."
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
columnist Zoe Williams
Zoe Williams
Zoe Williams is a British columnist and journalist.-Early life:She attended the independent Godolphin and Latymer School girls school and read Modern History at Lincoln College, Oxford.. Her parents separated in 1976 and formally divorced 20 years later.-Writing:Williams writes forThe Guardian and...
criticised the actual waterboarding in the torture scene, saying "it's really unpleasant, [Armitage] concurred. 'I only lasted five to 10 seconds, and the sound of my voice crying out to stop isn't me acting.' Pal, that's nice that you're not showing off but this is all wrong and despicable: it's like locking yourself and 10 friends into a loo on a commuter train, to see what it would be like on the train to Auschwitz. If you can make it stop whenever you like, you're learning nothing and kicking people in the face while you're at it."