10 Most Shocking Moments In Spooks

6. Tom Quinn's Apparent Suicide

Spooks Helen Death
BBC

Matthew Mafadyen's Tom Quinn was the original face of the show. Tom faced many personal and professional struggles before having an attack of conscience and being rather coldly decommissioned by Harry Pearce early in Series 3.

One of his most challenging experiences was when vengeful CIA agent, Herman Joyce (Tomas Arana) framed him for the assassination of the Chief of the Defence Staff. Fleeing from his allies in an effort to prove his innocence, Tom shot Harry Pearce in the shoulder with a shotgun before supposedly drowning in the North Sea. His friends and colleagues, Danny Hunter and Zoe Reynolds could only stand by, fearing the worst, whilst search and rescue teams combed the area.

It was a shocking conclusion to Series 2, proving that the show did not need to set off explosions to keep the audience's attention.

Even though Tom experienced a "conscience explosion" shortly after his return in Series 3, he was never far from viewers' hearts, ultimately proving so popular that he returned for a cameo appearance in Series 10.

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.