Spooks 'There's a massive fallout from Ros's death'

Richard Armitage reveals how the team are coping with the loss of Ros Myers in the new series of Spooks, which starts on BBC1 on Monday, September 20...

How does the new series kick off?
"It opens with Ros's funeral. There's a massive fallout from her death. There's a seed of discontent and some of the team begin to question if this life is really worth ending up as another figure on a piece of paper."

How is Lucas coping, in particular?
"Lucas feels some responsibility because he was at close quarters to Ros when she was killed. Harry is really devastated so Lucas's response is to try to be a strong figure for Harry and try to pull the team together. Basically Lucas throws himself into his work."

What can we expect from the new series?
"The main theme running through this series is deception and betrayal. Spies are masters of deception. Nothing is quite what it seems and nobody is who they say they are."

Not even Lucas?
"The thing is, Lucas came back from Russia a changed person. But you never really knew what he was like before that prison sentence. There's a storyline going back before his spy days and before prison. He starts to discover something he never knew and is reminded of things from his past. So get your head round that if you can!"

Lucas has been promoted this series. How is he at leading the team?
"Lucas turns out to be quite a flexible leader. He wants resourceful people, not pen pushers."

How does he get on with new recruit Beth Bailey?
"There is friction with the new characters - certainly between Lucas and Beth [Sophia Myles]. He sees her as a bit of a liability, but also recognises her maverick skills can be very useful. But she's hard to rein in!"

Do you think you'd make a good spy in real life?"
"I think it would be wear me down after a while. I think you'd have to be a lot more intelligent than I am, and a lot more fearless!"