10 Most Shocking Moments In Spooks
9. The Man Formerly Known As Lucas North
When Richard Armitage was cast as former Section D leader, Lucas North in Series 7, the show gained another heartthrob leading actor to ensure female viewership. It also led to a great surprise when Lucas showed his true nature towards the end of Series 9.
Despite his long imprisonment in Russia, it was actually Lucas's reintroduction to Vaughan Edwards (Iain Glen) and the renewal of his relationship with Maya Lahan (Laila Rouass) that proved to be his undoing, revealing that he was not actually Lucas North, but rather a terrorist named John Bateman.
Blackmailed by Vaughan into stealing a top secret government file known as Albany, John ultimately killed Vaughan and bargained with the Chinese government to sell them the file in return for his and Maya's safety.
However, even though John succeeded in making his bargain, Maya was shot and killed. John then confronted Peter Firth's Harry Pearce, the Head of MI5's Section D, on a London rooftop, apparently with the intention of executing Harry for his involvement in Maya's death. In a shocking twist, John threw himself off the rooftop to his death instead.
However, as John's death happened offscreen (and given Armitage's popularity in the show), loyal viewers still theorised that he might return.