The Tip-Off (Spooks)

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.

Chief of Section D Ros Myers (Hermione Norris) introduces Lucas North (Richard Armitage) to one of Adam Carter's assets, Pakistani intelligence officer Marlin (Emilio Doorgasingh).

When Malcolm Wynn-Jones (Hugh Simon) discovers the chatter, Ben relays to the team that the dry run will commence the following day.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kudos film and television, the production company behind Spooks, had to follow several health and safety provisions from an advisor to ensure the sequence strictly adheres to the advice.

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.

[8] 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."

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.

"[10] The Guardian columnist Zoe Williams criticised the actual waterboarding in the torture scene, saying "it's really unpleasant, [Armitage] concurred.