Anthony Head Credits

Spooks (aka MI-5)

Television guest star appearance (UK)

Series summary: Drama series about the British Security Service, MI5

Note: Aired under title MI-5 on A&E (US/Canada)
Role: Peter Salter
Episode: 1.04 - Traitor's Gate
Original air date: June 3, 2002
Network: BBC1
Availability: Currently available on DVD

Summary of Anthony Head's storyline: MI5 agents Zoe Reynolds and Danny Hunter are conducting surveillance of a demonstration in London protesting an upcoming visit by President George W. Bush. An undercover agent in the crowd makes the mistake of touching his earpiece and a protestor wearing a motorcycle helmet to cover his face spots this and shouts out that he is an infiltrator. A scuffle breaks out and the protestor turns directly to where Zoe and Danny are at and gives them the finger. They are shocked to realize he knows where they are. The man and the woman with him, who is wearing an animal mask, run off but are soon stopped by more police. Surrounded, the man takes off the helmet. Zoe and Danny immediately recognize him as legendary MI5 agent Peter Salter. They are radioed by the police saying Peter has identified himself as a friendly. Zoë and Danny were unaware that Peter would be there and debate on whether to pull him or let him go. Zoë finally makes the choice to let him go. As Peter and the woman leave, he warns her not to take off her mask, knowing that they are trying to get a picture of her. She demands to know what Peter is. He responds, "I'm a bloody hero, darling."

Later, Zoe and Danny are back at MI5 headquarters reviewing Peter's history. The head of their department, Harry Pearce, wants a report on the events of the demonstration. They apologize for not being aware that Peter would be there. Harry tells them that they did not see Peter Salter. They get the point to forget what they saw. Danny returns to reviewing Peter's file, which includes the fact that he recruited their team leader, Tom Quinn. We hear Danny in a voiceover detailing Peter's record while seeing Peter and the woman from the demonstration in a room. She is upset and Peter walks over to her, caresses her face and holds out his hand.

Zoe and Danny fill Tom in on the demo. He goes to talk to Harry, upset that he was not aware of Peter's operation. He insists that only he runs Peter. Harry admits that Peter has been working on a special op to infiltrate an anarchist group run by Istvan Vogel. They are plotting something during the upcoming Bush visit. The op is run by MI6 by a man named Jools Sivitar. Tom and Harry go to meet Sivitar to discuss what is happening with Peter. Sivitar and Harry argue over who is in charge of the operation, with Harry insisting it is a joint operation and Sivitar insisting that it is an MI6 mission and Peter has been seconded to them. Sivitar takes Harry and Tom to a store where he asks the clerk to close up shop and then heads to the back. Sivitar tells them that his team has been doing surveillance on an anarchist's flat and something interesting wandered in.

Sivitar turns up the sound on the surveillance equipment and the sounds of a couple having sex are heard. He turns it back down and tells Harry and Tom that Peter and the woman from the demonstration are hiding out there. Harry is angry that Sivitar is doing surveillance on one of his operatives without his knowledge but Sivitar insists that no intelligence has been revealed - yet.

In the flat, Peter and the woman are in bed, when she yells out that he is MI5 and slaps him. She gets out of bed. The next part switches back and forth between the flat and Tom, Harry and Sivitar listening to the conversation via the bugs in the flat. The woman, whose name we now find out is Andrea, is upset that she has unknowingly been shagging an MI5 agent for two weeks. She trusted Peter and thought she was in love with him. Peter tells her he is the thing security service fears the most - a spy who goes through traitor's gate willingly. He insists that he wants to be with her and her group. Peter asks her to set up a meeting with Vogel saying he has a deadground map for the whole country. A dead ground map has all government and military sites. He tells her they could raid anywhere in the country with this information. He is kissing her throughout the entire conversation. He glances up and spots a bug in a lamp. He goes through the entire flat and destroys all the bugs, while warning Andrea to keep quiet. Tom is upset that Peter is making such a serious mistake in judgment. Peter writes down an address for Andrea to go to and meet him later. She tells him she still doesn't know if she can trust him and he kisses her, saying he'll prove it. She tells him she loves him, so he better.

Later that night, Tom arrives at the North Greenwich Station, where he meets Peter. They chat for a moment like the two old friends they are before Tom gets down to business and asks where the girl is. Peter says she is at a Camden B&B. Tom is upset that Peter has gone off plan. He was to do nothing more than observe. Peter insists that the anarchist group was too hard to infiltrate with the usual cover stories and the dead ground map was the incentive needed. Tom insists that Peter come in. Peter thinks that it is because of Harry or a turf war with MI6. Tom admits that there has been some but since it's going to get them Vogel, Peter is the hero of the hour. It's Tom who wants Peter to come in - because he's in love with the girl and blew his cover for her. He knows Peter well enough to know he wasn't acting in the flat. Peter insists that Andrea has a purity about her that he loves. Tom can't believe that Peter is saying something so cliched. Peter insists that when this operation is over and Vogel is caught, everyone will be happy and the service can retire him and Andrea to a farm somewhere. Tom agrees to let Peter stay in the field. They have a lighthearted moment as friends and then Peter wonders when it all ends. Tom asks what he means and Peter says, "Obedience to the state."Something in the way he says it makes Tom realize he means it as a believer and Tom decides to pull Peter after all. Peter insists on seeing Andrea again and Tom reluctantly agrees. He tells Peter to be at Thames House first thing the next morning. Tom later tells Harry that Peter is no longer reliable, but he hopes he is wrong.

Zoe and Danny are watching the B&B and see Peter arrive. Peter goes to the room where Andrea is and asks when the meeting is. She tells him and he has her call the police to report a man and a woman having sex in a car and to say that there are children about. The police soon pull up to the car with Zoe and Danny. While they are occupied with that, Peter takes off with Andrea, waving at them. Peter and Andrea get into a nearby SUV with two men and drive off. One of the men has Peter turn over his phone and then has him strip for a search. They toss all of Peter's things into the trash and give him an overcoat to wear. Peter tries to find out their plans for Bush's visit, but they say nothing and blindfold him.

They arrive at Vogel's camp in Wales the next morning. Peter gives Vogel the dead ground map as a sign of his good faith. Peter asks Vogel what the plan is for the Bush visit and Vogel gives Andrea the okay to tell him. They plan to block Bush's car from his meeting with the queen. Peter points out that special forces will mash them to bits. Vogel insists they are not afraid and Andre adds that they are planning to blow up a gas main.

Back at MI5, everyone is upset at Peter's actions. Harry demands to speak to Danny but it is about another matter - Danny had used his MI5 connections to give himself a better credit rating and thus credit cards. Harry points out that they will all be watched more closely after Peter's actions and cuts up the cards. He also assigns Danny to lead office staff training as punishment.

Peter doesn't think much of Vogel's plan and tells him so. He suggests something else. He uses the dead ground map to show them blindspots in the security system of Medway University, whose ordinance survey computers are directly linked to the mainframe of air traffic control. The group agrees to Peter's plan. A small group, including Peter and Andrea, breaks into the university's geography department that night. One of the members has a gun, although they don't normally carry weapons. Peter insists he put it away. Peter is trying to hack into a computer. A security guard spots them, and the gun, and sounds the alarm. Peter tells them to take some of the computer towers to make it look like a break-in. Everyone but Peter takes off, Andrea very reluctantly. Peter stays behind to continue. He succeeds in breaking the password and changes the land height of a certain area - a change which is also automatically made with air traffic control, thus changing flight paths. Armed police have arrived and order Peter out. He comes out carrying a tower, which he drops. One of the police officers throws a concussion grenade, which knocks him over.

Peter is brought to MI5 headquarters. Before he arrives, Tom insists that everyone react normally and treat him as a returning hero. Peter arrives looking haggard and emotionally beaten. He has a persistent ringing in his ears from the grenade and we hear this whenever things are shown from his perspective throughout the following. Tom takes him into Harry's office while Harry and Jools Sivitar observe from a conference room.(Jools is amused that Harry bugs his own office.)

Tom pretends that he considers Peter's operation a success and starts asking for the details. Peter tells Tom that Vogel's base is in East Anglia, but he isn't sure. Tom says it doesn't matter because they have the girl. Tom feeds Peter with plausible explanations for his actions and Peter agrees to all of them. Tom again mentions that they have the girl claiming that she hurt herself while escaping at the university and her comrades left her behind. Peter reckons they would do just that. Tom then drops his pretence that he believes Peter and makes the guess that Vogel was really in Wales - the opposite side of the country from East Anglia. Peter realizes he's been cracked. He tells Tom that it was an old military base in Wales, one where he had trained before it shut down. He gives Tom the exact location. He asks about Andrea and Tom says she is elsewhere being questioned. Peter wants her brought to him. Tom agrees and makes a call to Harry to pretend that they are bringing her. Tom asks Peter why he did it. Peter says it was "boredom. Crippling, chest-tearing, bum-clenching boredom." He feels that no one believes in anything anymore. Then he met Andrea who passionately believed in something. Tom can't believe that Peter threw everything away for a robbery and wants to know what Peter was really doing at the university. Peter says he'll tell him when Andrea gets there. He then realizes that Tom doesn't have Andrea after all and that she is in Wales with the others. Tom tells Peter it's not too late, that he can still have that retirement he'd talked about. Peter simply asks to use the bathroom. Tom takes him into the men's room but won't let him close the door to the stall. Tom says he still respects Peter and wants to keep that. Peter says that there is only one future for him - back in the field as a double agent. After betraying Andrea and her friends, there is no hope of a retirement cottage with her in the garden. Tom says Peter will still be serving his country. Peter thinks that's what Andrea is doing. He then asks Tom if he would give up his life to protect what he believed in. He then hits Tom in the throat, cutting off his windpipe so Tom can't breathe. While Tom is down, Peter takes Tom's belt and uses it to hang himself from the stall. Tom is helpless on the floor and can do nothing to save his friend and mentor.

Although the MI5 team is pleased to have captured the entire anarchist group, Zoe and Danny still wonder why Peter broke into the university and what geography had to do with an anarchist plan to attack President Bush. Later, Danny is doing his mandatory training of the office staff. They are teasing him and one of the women says, "Come fly with me Danny." The pieces suddenly fit together for him and he realizes that Peter was really after air traffic control. Danny calls Tom to let him know they figured it out. Tom has just arrived home and his girlfriend Ellie tells him that it was just on the news that air traffic control has gone down and Bush's plan was diverted to Paris. She then asks how his day was and he says, "A man, who believed in a cause, killed himself for love. Totally pointless."

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