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Adam Henry Carter is a fictional

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

from the

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...

espionage television series '' Spooks'', which follows the exploits of Section D, a

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

division of

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

. He is portrayed by British actor

Rupert Penry-Jones Rupert William Penry-Jones (born 22 September 1970) is a British actor, known for his performances as Adam Carter in '' Spooks'', Clive Reader in ''Silk'', DI Joseph Chandler in ''Whitechapel'', and Mr Quinlan in the American horror series ''The ...

. The character is a former

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

officer who takes charge as the chief of Section D, and hence the head protagonist following the departure of Tom Quinn in series three. Adam Carter was created with the knowledge that Matthew Macfadyen, who played Tom Quinn, would leave the series. The intention was that Adam would be different from Tom; the producers wanted a character who was a husband with an MI6 background. Rupert Penry-Jones was cast after three auditions. Before the sixth series finale aired, it was announced that Penry-Jones would leave the series. In the premiere episode of series seven, Carter is killed in a car bomb. His death was voted the fourth most shocking death in the series. Rupert Penry-Jones was awarded "Best Actor" at the

Crime Thriller Awards The Crime Thriller Awards is a British awards ceremony dedicated to crime thriller fiction. The inaugural event was held on 3 October 2008 at the Grosvenor Hotel, hosted by comedian and ''Jonathan Creek'' actor Alan Davies. It was televised on ...

for his portrayal of Adam Carter.

Role in ''Spooks''

Before joining Section D, Adam Carter was an MI6 officer who served in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

and specialised in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. Oliver Mace (

Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was bor ...

), chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, describes Carter as a "loose cannon". He is a fluent

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

speaker and has good

countersurveillance Countersurveillance refers to measures that are usually undertaken by the public to prevent surveillance, including covert surveillance. Countersurveillance may include electronic methods such as technical surveillance counter-measures, which is t ...

skills. In one past operation, Adam worked a case in Damascus to recruit Syrian intelligence officer Farook Sukkarieh as a double agent to work with the Israelis and stop a string of

suicide attacks A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

. He used Farook's wife, Fiona (

Olga Sosnovska Olga Sosnovska (born 21 May 1972) is a Polish-born U.K./U.S.-based actress. Life and career Sosnovska was born in Wieluń, Poland. Her family emigrated to England when she was eleven. Sosnovska is perhaps best known in the United States for ...

) as a way in. Fiona and Adam subsequently fell in love and started an affair. When Farook discovered this, he had Adam brutally tortured. After he escaped, Adam framed Farook, persuading the Syrians that he was a traitor, and Farook was supposedly hanged for this. Adam subsequently married Fiona and together they had a son, Wes. Adam first appears in the series three opening episode " Project Friendly Fire", hired by head of Section D

Harry Pearce Sir Henry James "Harry" Pearce, KBE (born 1 November 1953) is a fictional character, head of the counter-terrorism department ("Section D") of MI5 as featured in the British television series '' Spooks''. He was played by Peter Firth during t ...

(

Peter Firth Peter Macintosh Firth (born 27 October 1953) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC One programme '' Spooks''; he is the only actor to have appeared in every episode of the programme's ten-series lif ...

) to help clear Tom Quinn ( Matthew Macfadyen) who has been framed for the assassination of the Chief of the Defence Staff. Ultimately Tom is cleared and returns to duty, only to be decommissioned in the following episode after sabotaging an operation. Harry decides to have Adam transferred to MI5, replacing Tom as head of Section D. Adam recruits

Jo Portman Joanna Portman (1979–2010) was a fictional Field Operative in the Counter-Terrorism department at MI5, featured in the British television series, ''Spooks (TV series), Spooks'', also known as MI5 in the United States. She was played by Miranda R ...

(

Miranda Raison Miranda Caroline Raison (born 18 November 1977) is an English actress and voice-over narrator. Early life Miranda Raison was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, on 18 November 1977. Her mother is former Anglia News reader Caroline Raison (''né ...

) after seeing that she saw through his surveillance cover and was impressed by her improvisation skills; he continues to be a mentor to Jo In the series four episode " Syria", Adam learns that Farook had faked his own death; he is in England, where he kidnaps Fiona during an operation of hers. At the end of the episode Adam guns Farook down, but not before Farook fatally shoots Fiona, who dies in Adam's arms. Harry later relieves Adam of duty until he receives a psychological evaluation. In the series four finale, Adam is shot by rogue MI5 officer Angela Wells (

Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Vere Duncan (born 7 November 1950) is a Scottish actress. On stage, she has won two Olivier Awards (for ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' and ''Private Lives'') and a Tony Award (for ''Private Lives''). She has starred in several plays by Ha ...

). At the opening of season five, Adam appears to have made a complete recovery and has returned to the Grid. In series five Adam hires a nanny, Jenny (

Gugu Mbatha-Raw Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw (; born 21 April 1983) is a British actress who is known for her performances on stage and screen. In 2017 she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama ...

), to look after Wes while he takes part in operations. Midway through the series, she and Adam start a brief love affair, which ends in the penultimate episode. In the fifth series, particularly in its later episodes, Adam suffers from several mental breakdowns following the loss of Fiona. He has recurring nightmares that involve his being wounded and unable to return home to his son, and in the eighth episode, he has a panic attack after learning that Wes has briefly run away from home; this attack jeopardises his life during an operation. In the series finale, Adam is revealed to be suicidally depressed, wishing he had died in Fiona's place. But after another panic attack, he is able to pull through, save fellow officer

Ros Myers Rosalind Sarah Myers is a fictional character from the BBC television series '' Spooks'', which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division in MI5. She is portrayed by British actress Hermione Norris. The character was a form ...

(

Hermione Norris Hermione Jane Norris (born 5 December 1966) is an English actress. She attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s, before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Ka ...

), and escape from the

Thames Barrier The Thames Barrier is a retractable barrier system built to protect the floodplain of most of Greater London from exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the North Sea. It has been operational since 1982. When needed, it is c ...

before they both drown. In the sixth series, Adam has recovered from his breakdown—said to have been caused by post-traumatic stress—after receiving psychiatric counseling. Despite a brief affair with Ros Myers, he has an affair with Ana Bakhshi (Agni Scott), wife of Iranian Special Consul Dariush Bakhshi (Simon Abkarian). Ana later realises she is pregnant; whether Adam or Dariush is the father of her child is never resolved. Halfway through the series Adam is mugged, and his assailant is seriously injured during their struggle. The man, who is identified as a journalist, later dies, and Adam is wanted for murder. It is later revealed that the man was no journalist; Adam was set up, to prevent his stopping a deal that would have allowed Iran to become a nuclear power. He has a brief affair with Ros, and later fakes her death to protect her from CIA retaliation after it is exposed that she has worked with the anti-American shadow organisation Yalta. In the series six finale, Jo is kidnapped by the Redbacks, the group that tortured

Zafar Younis Zafar may refer to: * Zafar (name) * Zafer Stadı, a multi-purpose stadium in Guzelyurt, Northern Cyprus * Zafar, Yemen, an ancient Yemeni city * Zafar, an ancient port city whose main ruins lie in the Al Baleed Archaeological Park * Zafar (anti ...

; Adam was revealed to be the ultimate target after being betrayed by Bob Hogan in the CIA. Adam manages to meet with Jo, where he learns that she has been tortured and raped; fearing she will end up like Zafar, Jo begs Adam to kill her. The episode ends on a cliffhanger where it is unclear if Adam went ahead with her request. In the first episode of the seventh series, Adam works with officer

Lucas North Lucas North, formerly known as John Bateman, is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series '' Spooks'' (known in the United States as "MI5"), which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division of MI5. Nort ...

( Richard Armitage), newly returned from imprisonment in Russia, to rescue a kidnapped British soldier in London. Also, it is revealed that he did not kill Jo and is looking after her following her ordeal with the Redbacks. Harry Pearce comments that "

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

is the only person she trusts." Later, Adam discovers that an Al-Qaeda operative has positioned a car bomb to explode at a

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

ceremony. Adam is able to drive the car to an unpopulated zone, but it explodes just as he exits the car, killing him. It is later revealed that FSB head-of-operations in London, Arkady Kachimov, withheld his knowledge of the bomb plot. Harry Pearce kills him in revenge. Ros Myers succeeds Adam as section chief, and Jo Portman returns to honour his memory.

Conceptual history

Rupert Penry-Jones and Sally Hawkins making the 2007 movie Persuasion

The producers were aware that Matthew Macfadyen would leave the series after playing Tom Quinn for two years, and they did not know whether he would return for the first two episodes. An eight- to nine-member team came up with the new character of Adam Carter. They wanted Adam to have a different dynamic than Tom; the producers set up a girlfriend/boyfriend storyline in the first series – with Adam, they wanted him to have a wife (Fiona Carter) who works in the Security Service, since married couples working in that environment are common. They wanted Adam to be more animated and energetic than Tom. Writer Howard Brenton wanted him to have an MI6 background, and have something awful happen to him in the past. Brenton invented the backstory of Syria early on into the third series, which he wanted to revisit in the fourth series. Early on in the development process, the producers wanted to cast a "brilliant actor" with a strong screen presence. They discussed casting

for the role of Adam Carter early in the process, though it took months to finally decide to cast him. Though Penry-Jones was aware of ''Spooks'' and its success, he had never seen any episodes. To be interested in the role, he spent a weekend catching up on the entire first and second series. He did not take long to decide, since his last leading role was four years previously, in 2000 in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

drama ''

North Square ''North Square'' is a British television drama series written and created by Peter Moffat, and broadcast by Channel 4 from 18 October to 20 December 2000. Starring an ensemble cast, including Phil Davis, Rupert Penry-Jones, Helen McCrory and ...

''. Adam was originally meant to be older, and more "street." When he found acting "street" was too difficult, Penry-Jones acted more like himself. He had to audition three times before the producers included him, four months before filming commenced. On his first day for filming series three, Penry-Jones participated in a fight scene in the middle of the first episode. He felt a little wary replacing Matthew Macfadyen. After two months of filming, Penry-Jones began to feel more at ease with the role. He felt especially so after he started working for the fourth series. He returned to the fourth series because he thought his character took off by the end of the last series, and wanted to see which direction he would go to next. The crew wanted Adam to go from a "happy-go-lucky" figure to wanting him to deal with things that would make it hard for Adam to be jokey towards the end of the fourth series; this involved Fiona's death. Before the sixth series finale aired in December 2007, it was announced that Rupert Penry-Jones would leave the series sometime in series seven. He wanted to leave the series as he felt the character had run its course, as well as wanting to explore other venues. He also stated that working in ''Spooks'' was "great," but felt he was "getting to the point where I needed to move on." Before the seventh series aired, Penry-Jones revealed his character would leave in what he believed was "one of the best" ''Spooks'' exits. He found that his last days on ''Spooks'' was generally upsetting and "welled up" on his final day. Penry-Jones did not envisage lasting as long as he did, because he believed the series would not last as long as it has.

Reception

Rupert Penry-Jones noted that the initial fan reaction towards Adam Carter was negative, "because Matthew acfadyenwas so successful and loved." It took a while for fans to accept him. Penry-Jones also felt that his role in ''Spooks'', "definitely took my profile up several notches." In the "best of drama" viewer polls at

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

, Penry-Jones was voted third in the "Best Actor" category, beating co-stars Matthew Macfadyen, who was fifth,

David Oyelowo David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards ...

, who was seventh, and

, who was tenth. He was later voted fifth in 2005, and ninth in 2006. In a DVD review of the third series of ''Spooks'', Michael Mackenzie of ''Home Cinema'' had mixed views of Adam's introduction, stating "despite ardent protests from both cast and crew, Tom and Adam are almost exactly the same character." In the fifth series, Mackenzie felt more open towards Adam, stating Adam Carter "isn't exactly James Bond ..he doesn't jet around the world, bedding multiple women and engaging in fisticuffs atop precarious construction rigs, but he does rush around London with a gun in his hand and occasionally ends up on the receiving end of the odd beating." David Blackwell of ''Enterline Media'' was receptive of Adam in the fourth series, as he felt Adam became "more fleshed out and interesting." However, Blackwell was critical of Adam's role in the following fifth series, stating it is "too much" about him. Fans and critics alike displayed shock towards the character's death in the first episode of the seventh series. Fans voted Adam's death as the fourth most shocking death scene in the series. The '' Radio Times'' stated the shock factor of his death was "spectacular" and said that "driving a primed car bomb to a safe place is so run-of-the-mill for the spooks they wouldn't normally break a sweat. This time, however, it went off. ''Me-Me-Me.tv'' has said that Adam's death was "bound to happen" and stated "just when we've formed a deep, meaningful and totally healthy relationship with the lead gentleman ..they go and blow him up", adding "It's just not fair." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

's'' Hilary Rose noted that fans will remember Adam's "dramatic exit", and said that "the nation's women duly went into mourning", regarding that "pretty much every woman with a pulse seems to fancy Rupert." She then noted that some would find "consolation in the shape of new ''Spooks'' totty Richard Armitage." In 2008, Rupert Penry-Jones won a Crime Thriller Award for "Best Actor" for his portrayal as Adam Carter. Penry-Jones won the award against '' Ashes to Ashes'''

Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister (born 10 February 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC series ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007) and its sequel '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2010). He also played DCI William ...

, '' Midnight Man'' and '' Murphy's Law's''

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...

, ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

Dominic West Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor, director and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Noah Solloway in Showtime's '' The Affair'' (2014–2019), ...

, and '' Criminal Justice's''

Ben Whishaw Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor and producer. After winning a British Independent Film Award for his performance in ''My Brother Tom'' (2001), he was nominated for an Olivier Award for his portrayal of the titl ...

. In the same ceremony, co-star Hermione Norris won "Best Actress".

References

External links

Adam Carter personnel file
at BBC.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Adam Television characters introduced in 2004 Fictional British secret agents Fictional murderers Fictional people from London Fictional secret agents and spies Spooks (TV series) characters