Bernard Qualtrough is a fictional British spy appearing in series 7 of the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
television drama ''
Spooks'' (known as ''MI-5'' in the United States). The character was played by
Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to:
Academics
* Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic
* Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering
* Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...
.
In series 7, Bernard is in his retirement and is approached by his protégé
Harry Pearce
Sir Henry James "Harry" Pearce, KBE (born 1 November 1953) was 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 ...
about operation ''Sugar Horse''. This operation recruited
sleeper agent
A sleeper agent is a spy or operative who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but instead to act as a potential asset on short notice if activated in the future. Even if not activated, the "sle ...
s in the (then)
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
so they would rise to positions of influence before being activated. Harry is concerned that the operation, which he describes as the most important that MI5 has undertaken, has been compromised.
Bernard suggests
Connie James as a likely suspect after dismissing the possibility that Richard Dolby could have betrayed the operation.
Harry arranges for Connie's home to be searched and eventually, after a confrontation with her, discovers a cassette tape from the deceased head of the operation saying that Connie knew nothing of matters that he had discussed with Harry.
Harry accepts this as proof of Connie's innocence but is eventually persuaded by
Lucas North
Lucas North, formerly known as John Bateman, is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series ''Spooks (TV series), Spooks'' (known in the United States as "MI5"), which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism div ...
that Bernard is a mole. Lucas tells Harry that while imprisoned in Russia, he heard the Russian codename ''Pilgrim'' used during his interrogation by the
FSB, and he has found evidence in the archive that points to Bernard.
Eventually it turns out that both Bernard and Connie were working in concert for the FSB. Although Connie dies at the end of series 7, the fate of her co-conspirator is not made clear.
Spooks (TV series) characters
Fictional spies
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