[clicking]
[suspenseful music playing]
Can we fix this?
We have to.
[suspenseful music builds]
Imagine you had a secret.
Something that you wanted to keep safe, but your enemies were desperate to know.
So, how would you stay one step ahead of them?
You see, every single day,
every person at MI6 works secretly around the world
to keep the UK safer and stronger,
so that we're one step ahead of our adversaries.
Does anyone here know what the head of MI6 is called?
-Oh wow! Okay, yep? -M?
-[mimics game show buzzer] -[laughter]
[chuckles] No. It's a good guess.
It's actually not M. That's just in the movies. It's C.
Does anyone know what C stands for?
-Anyone other than Callum? -[laughter]
No? [laughs]
-Go on, bud. -Control.
Control. Control is right.
So, Control is in charge of every single agent at MI6, including me.
I'm his deputy, but he runs the show.
[distant siren wailing]
[ominous music playing]
He's landed.
[woman] Number 10 called, sir. The PM is asking for a brief chat.
He wants to reassure you that it's business as usual
until a successor has been elected.
-I'll set something for this afternoon. Thank you, Zoe.
-Your coat, Sir Martin. Morning.
Nigel. How are you?
A little surprised to get your call. How are things? How's Mary?
Fine. Shall we sit?
-[bleep] -[lock clicks]
[man in car] Two PPOs. One in the vehicle. One in the club.
[bleep]
[man] Ready. Service!
[woman] Yes, chef.
[man 2] Hang on…
President of the Supreme Court
illegally obtains a visa for his 26-year-old lover.
Tabloids will eat it up.
Nigel.
I can make this go away.
How?
Won't be entered into any official records.
I'll make sure it never comes to the attention of the police or MI5.
And I won't ask for anything in return.
Not immediately, anyway.
[server] What can I get for you gentlemen?
Uh, the tuna niçoise and a glass of the usual.
Thank you, Alice.
-Anything for you, sir? -Uh, nothing for me, thanks. I'm going.
Think about what I said.
Let me know what you decide.
[ominous music playing]
Your whiskey and water, sir.
Thank you.
Uh, wait.
You can take the tray.
[gasps]
[engine starts]
[woman] Let's go.
[muffled] Here we are, sir.
Sir Martin, are-- are you okay?
Sir Martin?
We made it, Kara.
-[loud crash] -[cyclist grunting]
[gasps]
-[brakes screech] -Shit!
Hey! Hey, what are you--
[revs engine]
[tires squeal]
We have to go. Come on!
Where is he?
What happened? Back up! Back up!
Call an ambulance!
-Uh… Teddy. -[burst of radio chatter]
Do you have a number? Like 007?
Uh, good question. So, we don't have…
-Uh, one second. -[whispering]
[pensive music playing]
Right. Um…
I think I'm gonna have to leave it there, guys.
Thank you for having me. Enjoy the rest of your day.
-[teacher] Say thank you to Mr. Lawrence. -Dad?
-Hey. I'll see you back at home. Yeah? -[teacher] Very kind of him…
We're coming out now.
-How long ago? -Eight minutes ago, sir.
-Where? -At his club, having lunch.
-How is he? -It's touch and go, sir.
His heart stopped.
They had to resuscitate him before the ambulance arrived.
Can you get the chief of staff on the phone?
I need to brief the foreign secretary.
Call HQ. I want a special operations room up and running by the time I get back.
Let's throw a two-mile perimeter around the scene. CCTV, traffic cameras.
-We'll need everything. -I'll give 'em a heads-up.
Olamide, sir.
Olamide, is this a threat to national security? Are we under attack?
We don't know yet. We're pulling everybody in.
I'm going to connect you to the foreign secretary now.
[sirens blaring]
Minister, it's the deputy chief of MI6.
Not a congratulations call I was expecting.
-I'll be honest. -Uh, Minister?
The leadership. Sorry, isn't that why you're calling?
Uh, Sir Martin Angelis was admitted to Bart's ten minutes ago.
He suffered a cardiac arrest while he was dining in his club.
He is unconscious. He's being kept in isolation.
Isolation?
It's a precaution. We think he may have been poisoned.
Oh God.
[sighs] Are you ready to assume his duties as chief?
Yes, ma'am.
-Ever met the PM? Once.
As soon as you've been briefed by the police, you'll bring us both up to speed.
Understood. Another attack may be imminent.
If an attempt was made to kill the chief of MI6, we need to raise the threat level.
You're gonna have some big calls to make. Can you handle it?
[distant siren wailing]
Yes, ma'am.
[suspenseful music playing]
[vibrating]
Oh, this feels a lot better, Danny.
I can tell you've been doing your exercises.
Well, I've been trying. [grunts]
You know, I served with the Royal Welsh in Afghanistan.
-Oh, yeah? -You served, right?
-Who told you that? -Oh, one of the nurses.
Hmm.
Yeah, I was a captain with the 47th Royal Artillery.
Well, you're a damn sight better looking than my CO was. [chuckles]
I'm meaner too. Now shift over to the other side for me.
Yes, ma'am.
[woman] Fingers on the pads, please, sir.
[Olamide] Your heartbeat is the most secure biometric.
An individual's ECG signals can't be faked.
This will give the highest level of security clearance.
I've scheduled a call with the secretary general of NATO
and the CIA director.
There'll be others, but we should start there.
All done.
[Olamide] Zoe will be your executive assistant.
As chief of staff,
I keep the day-to-day decisions off Sir Martin's desk.
-I'll do the same for you. -Great. Well, don't go easy on me.
We must maintain the appearance of business as usual. Mustn't miss a step.
[phone vibrates]
I'm going to take this. Can I, uh… use Sir Martin's?
That's your office now, C.
Ah, right.
-The PM's calling in three minutes. -Thanks, Zoe.
-Mads? -Hey, babe.
Everything okay? Sorry, I was with a patient.
Yeah, sort of. I didn't wanna leave a voice mail.
All right, Mr. Mysterious.
-Are you definitely alone? -Yeah, what's going on?
Someone tried to kill Martin Angelis less than an hour ago.
-He's in pretty bad shape. Are you okay?
I've been, uh, stepped up to chief.
[sighing] Oh God. Of course.
I know. I need to get up to speed.
But I'm gonna make sure I'm home in time to put the kids to bed.
I-- I wanna be there to explain it to them.
I was at the school when I found out, so Callum knows something's up.
[laughs] Nothing gets past him, eh?
But I think, um, Ella might struggle with this.
Yeah, just a bit.
Listen, things are gonna change for all of us.
Sorry this has to be over the phone. I… I wish we were together.
Yeah, me too. But we will be.
Just do what you've gotta do, okay?
We'll be okay.
[sighs] Christ, I must have been in this office a thousand times, just…
never this side of the desk.
Adam, you've got this.
You've got it.
I love you.
I love you too, sweetie. Bye.
[tender music playing]
[phone rings]
-The PM is on line one. Thank you, Zoe, put him through.
Good afternoon, Prime Minister.
The PM's raised the threat level to severe.
He wants hourly updates. What have we got?
We have a description of the woman who served Sir Martin.
It wasn't one of the regular staff.
We're looking for a Caucasian, dark shoulder-length hair, slim face.
-CCTV? -In the office, not the public spaces.
Sir Martin was one of the members who voted against installing it.
Well, that's wonderful.
-So, what's the chain of command? -I'm in charge.
Is there a decision to appoint a permanent successor?
Jesus, Malik, he's not dead just yet.
[Adam] He'll be back. But we need to know if Angelis was the ultimate target
or if this is part of a wider threat.
So, who puts together a hit like this?
The Russians wrote the playbook on it.
Yeah, but they like an end goal, something tangible.
A move like this is a big deal,
particularly with the way things are at the moment, so, no, I don't see it.
So let's push our assets in Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus, Moscow.
Let me know anything. The slightest whisper.
-Yes, C. -Right. That's all for now. Let's go.
Remember that crazy bastard in training? Fort Monckton?
Used to get us to run up and down and whip tennis balls at us.
[laughs] Yeah. Said if we ever took enemy fire,
we'd remember to run in zigzags, not a straight line.
Yeah. "Make yourself the hardest possible target, boys."
Angelis is unlikely to survive, let alone come back from this, so…
the big job is yours.
But if there is something else coming, you've gotta stand and face it.
Zigzagging won't work here.
Stay here. Wait for my call.
What if we killed the rider?
We?
Look. I needed a driver, you didn't hesitate.
No, but that means something to me, Thomas.
-[sighs] -It does.
Hey, look at me.
I'll take care of you. Give me a few hours. I'll get your money.
I'm gonna get changed.
[Adam] Use the description of the suspect,
but until we know what we're dealing with, keep a lid on it.
I want a total media blackout.
All right. That's all. Thank you.
[phone rings]
Becky.
There was a hit-and-run on a delivery rider half a mile from the club.
It's Central London, so it might just be coincidence,
but it happened within a few minutes of the attack on Sir Martin.
-Did the rider see who was driving? -Only that it was a male.
But he remembered enough of the license plate for us to find the owner.
He sold it for cash two weeks ago to one Charles McGregor.
Not his real name. But we have a decent description now.
-Might be nothing, but it's all we have. -Okay.
Get the description out. Chase it down. We might get lucky.
[pensive music playing]
Oh fuck.
-Have a good evening, sir. -Thanks.
[drops bag]
[Callum] Dad! Dad.
Come here.
[radio chatter]
Is it dangerous?
[Maddy] What, sweetheart?
Dad's new job. Will we be safe?
Yeah. And we'll have people guarding the house.
-Did they give you a bigger office? -[Adam chuckles] Yeah, they did, actually.
And it's got armored glass and its own ventilation system.
Whoa.
What about school?
A protection officer, Frank Scott, will pick you up and drop you off.
-And do you know him? Quite well? -Yeah, I've known him for years.
He's got his own children, and he's… he's a good man.
And he's armed, right?
And he's armed.
-Cool. -No, it's not cool, Cal.
Dad has to do this. Right, Dad?
Well, it is my job, sweetheart.
And when you saved all those people in the embassy, that was your job too?
Well… yeah, but that was fieldwork,
which is way more dangerous than what I do now.
Will we still do movie night?
[chuckles] Yeah, of course.
Then I reckon it's cool. No matter what Ella says.
Hey.
You didn't pick up the phone. I started to get worried.
Thought something had gone wrong.
Well, I had to be careful.
They took the cyclist you hit to hospital.
Oh. He's all right? That's good.
No, it's not.
Your face is on the Met server, Thomas.
Every cop in this city has it.
It's half of what I owe you.
I'll get you the rest once I've figured somewhere safe for you, okay?
-Are you coming too? -Of course.
Now put your cash away. There's some bad people around.
I've been checking the news. Haven't seen anything about Angelis.
Head of MI6 dying.
Mm. I thought it'd be everywhere.
I didn't want him dead. Just out of the way.
Hmm.
[chokes]
[gasps]
[sighs]
[gasping for breath]
I don't fuck up, Keegan.
[gasps]
[glass smashes]
[clattering]
[choking breaths]
I leave that to you.
[wheezing]
Babe.
I just don't want an armed escort.
Well, we can talk to them. Try and keep things as normal as possible.
That's why you have a deputy.
In case something happens to the person in charge.
So your dad really has to step up now.
I just found my group at school.
And Emma and her lot have only just stopped picking on me.
I just don't want things to change.
Yeah.
What did you expect? No 14-year-old girl wants to stand out.
Sure. No, I know. I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to do about it.
Nothing. [sighs]
She just needs time. We all need a bit of time.
I don't know if I'm ready.
Your whole career has been building up to this.
He wouldn't have made you deputy otherwise.
Oh, um… slightly awkward,
but I will need you to call me C, or Chief, if you prefer.
[laughs] In front of the PPOs, you know, to maintain authority.
-I think it's important. -Mmm.
-[chuckles] -It depends.
-Will you still be taking the bins out? -Mmm, yeah.
I mean, I'll need an armed escort, but sure, that's okay.
Well, in that case…
-Chief. -[both chuckle]
[phone vibrating]
[Adam groans]
Sorry.
-Come on! -No, I have to-- I have to take it!
-[groans] -Just give me a second.
-Yeah. -[Malik] C, we found the body.
Haven't touched it.
Where?
-Who is he? Thomas Keegan.
Thirty-six years old, two convictions.
One for armed robbery. One for possession of firearms.
We'll know more after the postmortem,
but the medical examiner is fairly certain the cause of death was poisoning.
What are the odds that it's the same poison Sir Martin was given?
Only this time, the dose was fatal.
Yeah, someone's covering their tracks.
Sir Martin's conscious.
[monitors bleeping]
I heard it was a woman.
Mm.
She could have killed me if she wanted to.
Why didn't she?
Because it's not personal. It's part of something bigger.
Good.
[sighs]
Now, this is the worst possible time.
The leadership election.
Very volatile. Do not trust anyone.
Not the police, not even your own people.
Some of them will doubt that you can do this.
A young father. Not enough experience.
No killer instinct.
But I know what you're capable of.
You have my full confidence.
Thank you, sir.
[sighs] Are you ready?
Because my enemies are your enemies now.
Can you handle them?
Yes, sir.
When you have something, come back to me.
I'll need to be up to speed when I get out of here.
Get some rest, sir.
And thanks for the books.
They're a bit, uh… esoteric, but I appreciate the thought.
Uh--
Uh…
You, uh… you're welcome, sir.
[camera clicks]
[pensive music playing]
[ominous music playing]
Books were a nice touch.
Old school. Dostoevsky.
Your favorite Russian author.
And Ali and Nino. A love story set in Baku.
I kept it simple.
I know how fat and rusty people get behind a desk.
[both laugh]
It's not appropriate for us to meet like this, Kara.
And yet, here you are.
Well, the books are in his hospital room.
I presume you have intel on who tried to kill him.
Besides, it's been a while. I was intrigued.
But I am still MI6, and you are SVR.
They threw me out.
Oh.
Why?
For tipping you off about the embassy siege?
[siren wailing]
What is this, Kara?
I've come to collect.
You have no idea of the things I've done
to get you a heartbeat away from the top job.
Just so that you'd finally be in the position to help me.
You poisoned Angelis?
With your shiny new security clearance, you're gonna help me get what I need.
I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll call my team,
and then I'll have you arrested.
I don't think so.
How are you gonna explain to Maddy that your entire career
has been engineered by your ex-lover?
What are you talking about?
The tanker you boarded in the Caspian Sea carrying three stolen M270s?
The intel came from a source at the docks, right?
Wrong. It was me. Your mole inside Turkish Special Forces?
Me.
The briefcase carrying chemical supply intel
that just mysteriously landed in your lap?
You're welcome, Adam.
Every intel win you earned, I gift wrapped for you.
Adam, you'd be nothing without me.
I don't need you to do my job,
so stay the fuck away from me and my family.
You don't even know what it is I want.
-I don't need to know. We're done here. -No we're not.
We're just getting started, Adam.
[sighs]
Fuck.
[tires squealing]
[doors slamming]
I hope you got some rest on the flight.
The CIA doesn't normally spring for business class.
All right, our cover, a civil engineering firm.
Our target…
The recently promoted chief of MI6, Adam Lawrence.
Check your emails for a full security briefing.
-[engine starts] -I want us up and running in three hours.
I need to make a house call. Let's go!
-Hey. -Dede?
They said I could come back. I hope that's all right.
Of course! Oh my God!
What the fuck are you doing in town?
[pop song playing]
[Maddy gasps]
-Oh, look at us! -Yeah.
God, I don't even remember this being taken.
Second tour, your first week as military liaison with my guys.
[Maddy] Oh, yeah.
-Oh, look at us. We look so innocent. -[laughs]
Don't we?
So, what is this?
I thought you were at Langley, living in a cubicle,
plotting to take over the CIA.
And who says I'm not?
[both laugh]
Actually, um… I'm between operations right now.
-I needed a break. -Mm.
Um… You know what, to tell you the truth,
I took a look around, and I realized it had been far too long
since I'd seen the people I really care about.
Pathetic.
[both laugh]
It is so good to see you.
So, how's the whole stepmom thing workin' out for you?
-Okay, I take it back. -I'm kidding. Really.
It suits you. You look good. So, how are the kids?
I love them. They're great.
The four of us are tight.
I mean, things are trickier now, but…
How do you mean?
Uh… [sighs]
It's just Adam's work.
It's all very confidential.
Sure, sure.
Sure.
-I mean, I would tell you if I could. -Please don't.
My whole fucking life is confidential.
I'm just here on vacation to see my friend
and maybe, if you can, uh… get a babysitter,
have a night out on the town?
Do you remember that shady bar at Camp Russell?
-Oh my God. -Yeah?
[both laugh]
-I mean… -Tequila.
[both laughing]
All right.
We haven't got enough tickets.
The PPOs aren't watching it, bud.
This is stupid.
Oh, Ella. It's all right, sweetie. We'll get used to it, okay?
-Remember, we're the Four Musketeers. -Dad.
-It's all clear, sir. -Thanks, Frank.
-Mum? -Hmm?
-Can we get some popcorn? -Yeah.
-Not for Els. She hates it. -[scoffs]
What's going on?
-Sorry, nothing, I'm just, uh… -Adam?
No, I'm all right. Sorry, just work stuff. Tell me about your day.
-[phone vibrates] -Well, um…
Hold on a sec. Oh, this might be the PM.
I should take it. I'll see-- I'll see you in there.
Adam Lawrence.
[Kara] I thought you were going to have me arrested.
I thought you'd have left the country by now.
The IDR is gonna detonate an explosive device
on a cross-Channel ferry when it docks tomorrow.
-How do you know that? Because I'm good.
You still sure you can do your job without me?
I can give you the intel to stop the attack.
All I want in exchange are the MI6 files on Baku.
On Baku?
Yeah. Five local men were killed.
And I need to know what happened. That's it. It's not much to ask.
There are hundreds of people on that ferry, Adam. You can save them.
What do you say?
Quid pro quo?
Yeah, give it to me.
16 Dean Street.
There is an item for you, but it closes at ten.
No, um, I'm with my family. Kara, no--
Ask for Magomayev.
[pensive music playing]
-Everything all right? Yeah, it's nothing.
Oh, uh, listen, I, uh… ordered a present for Olamide.
It's his birthday, but I forgot to send a courier to pick it up, so…
When we're done here, we'll just swing by. It's not far.
Sure.
[ominous music playing]
[sighs]
Is that it? Great, thank you.
What's taking him so long?
I'm sorry. I'm coming.
Tina, we have intel there's a device on a ferry entering Dover tomorrow.
Can you get counterterrorism patched in? I'm gonna give you an IMO number.
One sec.
Yeah, that's 88274599.
Great. Bye.
[clears throat]
-Sorry, guys. -[radio chatter]
-All right, let's go. -Dad. Dad!
[engine starts]
[clock ticking]
[dog barking in distance]
Hey.
You awake?
[heartbeat]
[bleeping]
-Hey. -Hey.
[clears throat]
-You okay? -Yeah, I just couldn't sleep.
You can talk to me, you know.
It helps me, too, to know we're on the same page.
[sighs] Yeah.
I just need to get some rest.
[sighs]
[sighs deeply]
[vibrating]
Adam?
I took a look at what we discussed. MI6 weren't involved.
I wanna know who killed my men.
No. There's nothing there. No name, no officer, nothing.
Then you need to try harder, Adam.
I'm afraid not. If there's nothing there, the information doesn't exist.
There's nothing else I can do.
I don't wanna hear from you again. We're done.
Okay, so he bought this present for a coworker.
An LP.
At ten o'clock at night.
It was off. It was off.
How do you mean?
I don't know. It felt like a-- It felt like a dead drop.
Does it work like that? There's no one else I can talk to about these things.
Did you ask him about it? I mean…
What was the LP?
[sighs] It's this folk singer from Baku. I don't know.
Adam's first posting was there.
[groans] I feel awful. I just…
It must be really hard for him, you know, this-- this new job and all the pressure…
I just-- I wanna support him. I wanna…
But there's something going on. I just can't put my finger on it.
Um… One second.
I don't know if I brought it with me.
Ah.
Here.
-What-- what-- -It's pretty old-school, low-tech.
Click it once, and it records speech within a ten-meter range.
It'll put your mind at rest.
Because you're going to find that it's nothing. I guarantee it.
Might we discuss the counterterrorism agents
that stormed a ferry inbound to Dover, dressed as a maintenance crew?
They took out two members of a Dutch far-right group.
One of them had a nail bomb in a backpack.
Well done us.
-[laughs] -I had no warning from my networks.
I hear you reached out to the counterterrorism squad
with an IMO number, sir, late last night.
We avoided multiple casualties--
The European far-right falls under my purview. I should've been informed.
We didn't have time, and it's not how I do things.
Should get used to that.
The police returned Sir Martin's briefcase, sir.
You need to remove any confidential files before I send it to his home.
And Patrick's outside if you have a second.
Uh, yeah, send him in.
Did I detect a bit of dick swinging back there with Malik?
Get in here. Can you shut the door?
Yep.
The President of the Supreme Court? What is this?
It was in the old man's briefcase. Have you ever seen a file like this?
-[knocking] -No.
Sir. Ella's protection officer went to pick her up after school,
but she left by a different exit.
We don't have eyes on her.
[music playing trough earphones]
[bleep]
[sighs]
We should be able to track her phone in the next two minutes.
What the hell is she thinking?
-She's a teenager asserting herself. -[sighs]
-She'll be… heading straight home. -[phone vibrates]
Here she is. Ella!
Dad. Someone's following me.
-[static crackles] -It's a woman. I'm freaking out.
-Where are you, sweetheart? -The canal near school.
She's by the canal. Okay, wh-- which side?
[breaking up] I don't know. I'm scared, Dad.
No… no, it's okay, sweetheart.
I'm right here, but you're cutting out.
-Stay calm. -I'm so sorry.
Go back to the road, find a shop.
-[breaking up] Just ask someone to help. -[call drops]
Ella?
[mutters] God. Get a team out there immediately.
-Throw a net over the entire area. -I'm on it, sir.
[sighs]
[gasping]
[Adam] Something's happening with Ella.
Um, she slipped out of school without her protection officer.
She wanted to walk home alone. But she called me from the canal.
She's very distressed. Something's wrong.
Adam, what's happening?
There's a chance someone's following her.
We've lost contact, but there's a response team on the way to her now.
Adam, you find her.
You just find her and you bring her home.
I will.
I promise.
Okay.
Fuck.
[ominous music playing]
[dialing]
[ringing tone]
[gasping and sobbing]
[bleep]
[whispering] This is between us, all right? I did what you asked for.
If you touch my daughter,
I will use every means at my disposal to fucking destroy you!
No!
[suspenseful music playing]