Matthew Macfadyen (Tom Quinn)
The quintessential modern spy, Tom has always been at the heart of the original MI5 team. But now he’s on the outside, fighting for his professional life.
“Tom is in a dark place,” explains Matthew Macfadyen. “He comes back solely to clear his name and be revenged, but there’s part of him that’s lost enthusiasm. And Zoe, Danny and Harry turn their backs on him, so he’s lost their trust. He’s pretending to be a good spy, but he’s kidding himself. He can’t be cold, switch off. He makes errors and can’t do his job any more. He knows the game’s up.
“Dramatically, it would have been odd with both Adam and Tom staying, but I’m glad that we see the characters achieve an understanding. It’s much more interesting than seeing two alpha males constantly competing to be the best.”
Tom’s departure marks the end of a three-year run for Matthew. “At the beginning I didn’t think in terms of how long it would go on for,” he says. “But it was very sad, very odd to go. Inevitably you feel quite proprietorial and think how can they be carrying on without me? But I also thought what else can you do with Tom? In two series he suffered quite a lot and it was really time to go.”
Matthew’s other TV credits include Enigma, The Project, The Way We Live Now, Perfect Strangers and Warriors. He is currently filming a new movie adaptation of Pride & Prejudice in which he stars as Mr Darcy.
“Dramatically, it would have been odd with both Adam and Tom staying, but I’m glad that we see the characters achieve an understanding. It’s much more interesting than seeing two alpha males constantly competing to be the best.”
Tom’s departure marks the end of a three-year run for Matthew. “At the beginning I didn’t think in terms of how long it would go on for,” he says. “But it was very sad, very odd to go. Inevitably you feel quite proprietorial and think how can they be carrying on without me? But I also thought what else can you do with Tom? In two series he suffered quite a lot and it was really time to go.”
Matthew’s other TV credits include Enigma, The Project, The Way We Live Now, Perfect Strangers and Warriors. He is currently filming a new movie adaptation of Pride & Prejudice in which he stars as Mr Darcy.
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