Spooks

Tom... Quinn.

That's my real name.

The truth? I work for the Government.

- Ooh(!) - Ml5.

Christine Dale. Have the CIA anything for us?

- The point of these meetings is to liaise. - Informally?

My superiors are so angry with you people, they're in meltdown.

Sod your superiors.

Run away with me.

Egypt?

No way can I go to Egypt. Can't.

- Can't? Or won't? - They'd never give me clearance.

- You're dumping me. - Vicky, don't be ridiculous!

What are you talking about?

I can't go on seeing you. It's not working. I wanna finish it.

'We cannot defend America...

'... and our friends...

'by hoping for the best.

'We cannot put our faith in the word of tyrants

'who solemnly sign non-proliferation treaties

'and then systematically break them.

'Lf we wait for threats to fully materialise...

'we will have waited too long... '

- Who's Tom tonight? - Steve.

You think anyone here is a trade delegate... Diane?

Are you kidding... Steve?

Ciao.

Sei bellissima. Belli gli orecchini?

- Oh, un regalo speciale di mio padre. - Ci vediamo dopo.

Oh, sì.

- I guess I'm just not pretty enough. - I could have told you that.

Back in a minute.

- What's up? - President Bush.

- Isn't he in Rio? - He was. Coming here tomorrow morning.

- Fishing trip? - High-level quickie with the PM.

Something major on the OPEC talks. They want to bash heads.

- There'll be a rush on taxis. - Don't worry. Harry's outside.

Harry, you know why Bush is coming, of course? The real reason.

Francois, what can I say? It's a very special relationship.

Meeting your PM's a feint. It's to meet the Libyans.

- Can't believe that. - No need to.

Look at the diplomatic crates from Washington. We have.

"All diplomatic material is the property of the representative government at all times."

UN Resolution 3501.

"More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read." Oscar Wilde.

We do not conduct espionage against our closest ally.

They pay us to watch you. As if you didn't know.

Come on, Harry, we're all Europeans now. Whose side are you on, anyway?

- Ours. - Good night.

'Andrews Tower, this is Air Force One... '

- I thought you said you'd be a minute! - Don't believe everything you hear.

'This is Air Force One, we are wheels-up and clear.'

What would Harry want with a Thames House counsellor?

Shouting practice?

Advance teams land two hours ahead of Air Force One?

Two C-5 Galaxy cargo planes into Brize Norton.

- That's a lot of cargo. - You get lots of stuff when you're President.

What's he bringing?

Er... bulletproof limousine, stand-by limos,

decoy limos, private ambulance, sundry Secret Service vehicles,

Marine One plus another helicopter and something called a blue goose.

Presidential podium.

I assume he'll transfer to the embassy by Marine One from Brize Norton.

Know who's meeting him?

No. But I do know what comes later. Coffee with the US Ambassador,

sightseeing, lunch with the Queen, Chequers for talks. Elapsed time, 15 hours.

- Bloody last-minute. - (Mobile)

Maybe he booked it on the internet.

- 'Yes? ' - They're sending it here.

- 'What? ' - You said to tell Customs to open a crate.

So I did and there's a problem. They're sending it here.

- 'A Libyan problem? ' - They're not saying, which scares me.

Harry, they're ready for you.

We must take the battle to the enemy.

Disrupt his plans and confront the worst threats before they emerge.

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States

will reach here in seven hours and be here until 2000 hours tomorrow.

We've outlined our security needs in the folder.

FLOTUS and VPOTUS will not visit.

POTUS himself requested the diversionary trip at 1800 GMT yesterday.

First you heard of it was probably first we heard of it

so let's make this as pleasurable as possible.

A command post has been established at Grosvenor Square.

The POTUS advance team will, with the White House Protective Research Section,

survey each site to be visited by the President, to determine manpower,

- medical and evacuation requirements... - (Mobile)

- We'd actually prefer to do that. - Your assistance in these matters is vital

and we thank you for coming this evening.

Please note on page eight,

Bagpipe and the PRS will initiate a full complement of POTUS SA1s on CP

from the Blacktop Unit at Grosvenor

by the time we get a wheels-down from Cowpuncher at Basecamp LZ.

In English, please.

A full US Secret Service team will meet the President at Brize Norton.

We'd like Ml5 close-protection teams on perimeter security for the visit's duration.

- But not close to the President? - Well, no.

- Why not? - That's our job.

- And ours. - Not in this case.

Ml5 oversees the protection of the PM, Queen and visiting dignitaries.

- Not this one. - Diplomatic protocol states

that the host Government provides 95% of protection for presidential visits.

Not this president. Not this visit.

We did it our way in Prague and we'll do it our way now.

That means adherence to US close-protection protocol -

every rumour to be treated as fact until neutralised,

every target a potential assassin until dealt with.

We'd like paranoia to be the norm until our CIC is safely in the sky.

I'm sure you understand in the current climate.

Once he's gone, any residual distrust will be your problem.

How kind of you to point that out(!)

Customs Liaison at Heathrow said to bring it up here.

- I don't know anything about it. - They're diplomatic crates.

They come every day from Washington to the US Embassy.

So why we were told to open this one, God only knows.

This is going bye-bye right now. Follow me, please.

Come on!

Sam! Tom wants us to start police briefings as soon as...

- Whoa. Wait, wait! Isn't that...? - Yeah. So shut up and help.

- No problem. - Sorry about the "shut up".

Every Presidential visit has, since Kennedy, involved the assembly of the trip file.

In it is every contact, every threat and possible target and concern

to the safety of the President in any place he passes through.

The last official POTUS visit here was two years ago.

We do try to keep up to speed on individuals

but we'll need access to all your files to confirm our information is up to date.

Just give us your information to cross-reference.

We'll do it ourselves, if that's OK?

So you want unsupervised access to our Registry Files?

Yeah. Or perhaps you'd prefer the President to get a bullet in the brain on your watch?

I understand, Zoe, but these interviews are designed for you to blow off steam,

to contribute constructive criticism...

"Of our workflow and office environment." Yes, I read the memo.

- Good! - To be honest, we're a bit busy.

There's this American bloke and, apparently, lots of people want to kill him!

Having sessions under live operations facilitates honesty.

Don't worry about time, I'm here for you day or night.

You or Danny in the reading room. Soon as you can.

- What's wrong? - Tell you later. It's really happening, then?

Yep.

She knows we all hide from her the rest of the year. So why does she do it?

Cos Personnel send her out once a year

in a psychological sniper unit to pick us off one by one. It's like guerrilla waffare!

I don't go to the fifth floor in case anyone thinks I'm going to see her.

Like anyone'd say to the Ml5 staff psychologist, "I can't hack it."

- Barry Mitchell did. - Who?

- Exactly. - Hold on...

Oh, very trusting(!) I'll be heads.

- I wanted heads. - Tails, then.

- (Sam) Er, say that again. - We opened it up...

- Got that. ...started looking...

- Still with you. ...just got started, when...

Someone spilled their tea into it.

That is correct.

Yeah. That was the bit I had some problems with.

Troy, I'll see you downstairs in a minute.

One of your minutes? He'll be there all night.

- Very funny, Tom. - That's me. Tactful, too.

Our countries have a tradition of working together,

I see no reason why we can't continue that.

I read the CIA World Factbook - written by you.

Britain's entry, "Slightly smaller than Oregon." That's what it was.

That's what we are to you - slightly smaller than Oregon.

Don't think you can order us around. Don't believe it for a second.

- He's our president. - It's our country.

How much bloody tea did you spill in here?!

It was an Arsenal centenary mug, so, you know... quite a lot.

- It wasn't you, was it? - No, I drink coffee.

- I think it was Earl Grey. - I don't care what bloody kind it was.

They can't bleach it, or replicate them. Harry's asked me to look for a Libyan link.

- Before the Americans notice it's gone? - We've kept a few crates back.

- We can say there's been a batch delayed. - Fine. Just keep tea away from them.

And coffee and sodding Ribena. How long till the Americans realise?

Depends. With this visit, we might get away with 18 hours. Maybe less, maybe more.

Clean and meadow fresh by morning. You have my word.

Just be as open and candid as you like.

Anything at all.

Anything or anyone you feel needs scrutiny...

just let rip. This is your time.

It's all good, actually.

- Good? - Yep. Everything is great.

Fantastic.

Perhaps if I asked you a few specific questions.

What do you think of the Service's public access line, for example?

What's that?

The freephone number for the public to call in with tip-offs about terrorist threats.

Oh, that. We call it the weirdo line.

I see.

Yeah, well...

When I say...

- Well, what I meant... - (Clears her throat)

Tom.

You're not going to give her access to the Registry, are you?

It's a show of trust on our side.

I'll take the juicy stuff out. Remember, Tom, this visit has become a symbol.

The PM's keen that we look like equal partners with the Americans.

Christine gets the files and we get very visible close-protection duty.

We have a small window of time while the CIA finalise their prep.

As we'll spend the duration on the Grid, I'll have someone get changes of clothes.

- I'll go myself, if that's OK. - Yeah.

How about Zoe? Do you have any comments about working with her?