BEING A DAD HASN'T LEFT ME SPOOKED
TV spy Rupert Penry-Jones on being left holding the baby
By Steve Hendry
The new series of acclaimed BBC spy drama Spooks opens with an edge-of-the-seat, two-part special packed with the show's signature details - life and death struggles with terrorists, political intrigue and an unnerving meeting of fiction and reality.
But saving the world is child's play for leading man Rupert Penry-Jones, who leads the TV MI5 team as agent Adam Carter.
The 34-year-old had to combine filming the new series with looking after his 18-month-old daughter Florence.
His partner, Irish star Dervla Kirwan, was filming the BBC Scotland-produced drama 55 Degrees North in Newcastle and was forced to leave their baby behind with Rupert and some hired help.
He said: "We've been ships that pass in the night sometimes. When she was doing 55 Degrees North she was initially taking Florence with her but it wasn't really working so we decided to leave her in London. She hated doing it but needs must.
Somebody takes Florence when I'm filming and take over when I get home. I get very little sleep."
Not that he is complaining. Indeed, he's proud of being a hands-on dad, just like his own, actor Peter Penry-Jones who did his bit when Rupert's mum - To The Manor Born actress Angela Thorne - was away filming.
He said: "For me it's perfectly normal and feels like something I should do. I feel like a natural."
Spooks opens with the funeral of agent Danny Hunter (David Oyelowo) - killed at the end of the last series protecting Adam's wife and fellow spy Fiona (Olga Sosnosvka) from hostage takers.
But as the service begins, they receive the first indication of a major bomb blast in central London that heralds the onset of a new terror campaign. The team - Adam, Fiona, Harry (Peter Firth), Ruth (Nicola Walker) and rising star Zafar (Raza Jaffrey) have 10 hours to prevent another catastrophe.
The two episodes feature Martine McCutcheon as a waitress who witnesses the bomb makers at work and Anna Chancellor as National Security Co-ordinator Juliet Shaw.
The new faces - and the events of the past - promise to give Adam some serious dilemmas in the 10-part series. Rupert said: "He's determined never again to lose anyone else in the team."
The opening episode was filmed before the July 7 suicide bombs on the Underground and features a fictional set of terrorists unconnected to Islam - but it will make uncomfortable viewing for some.
For Rupert, it has only strengthened his respect for the real-life MI5 'spooks'. He said: "Who knows how much they are doing to keep us safe."