Tom Quinn
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| Tom Quinn | |
|---|---|
 Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Quinn |
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| First appearance | 2002 |
| Last appearance | 2004 |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Senior Case Officer |
| Portrayed by | Matthew Macfadyen |
Tom Quinn is the fictional Senior Case Officer, Section D, at MI5's Counter-Terrorism Department, as seen in BBC spy drama Spooks. Tom Quinn was the first Spooks regular we saw when the series started in 2002 and has been played by Matthew Macfadyen.
When we first saw Tom Quinn in Series 1, Episode 1, he was with his first girlfriend, except we see him under the legend Matthew Archer. His girlfriend Ellie Simm doesn't take too kindly to finding out that he is a spy, and when their house almost gets blown up with them inside she leaves him.
His second girlfriend, Vicki Westbrook, was selfish and almost ruined Tom's career with "call-boy" cards in phone booths, but Tom's next girlfriend, CIA agent Christine Dale stepped in when it threatened the operation to protect her President on his visit to the UK. Christine Dale proved to be Tom's downfall as she fed him a false telegram about an American hitman coming to the UK. It was actually Herman Joyce, looking for revenge after Tom "ruined" the life of his daughter. Tom was framed for murder and shot Harry Pearce trying to prove his innocence.
Eventually, with the help of new-boy Adam Carter, the team are saved and Oliver Mace, who was using Tom's "treachery" to destroy MI5, was forced to back down. But in the following episode, Tom gets a rush of morality and almost ruins an operation, forcing Harry to relieve him with a very generous special pension, or pay-off for rogue agents.
The phrase Tom Quinn has now become an expression to define someone who refuses to pay their t.v. licence. For example "he is a right tom Quinn" The use of the phrase derives from the phrase tom-foolery and the word quinn meaning t.v. in irish.
