Doctor Maya Lahan is a fictional character from the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
''
Spooks'', which follows the exploits of Section D, a
counter-terrorism
Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...
division in
MI5
MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
. She is portrayed by British actress
Laila Rouass
Laila Rouass ( Abdesselam; born 22 June 1971) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Amber Gates in ''Footballers' Wives'' (2004–2006) and Sahira Shah in ''Holby City'' (2011–2012, 2021). She has also starred in ''Pri ...
. Maya is introduced in the
ninth series of the programme as the first love and former girlfriend of John Bateman (who changed his name to
Lucas North) fifteen years before the events of the series.
Rouass' involvement in the series was first announced in March 2010, with her character name revealed later in May. Because Maya was only a background character, Rouass's role was limited, did not perform any stunts and had time to perform other projects. The actress liked working with
Richard Armitage, who played Lucas, as she knew him for some years prior to working on ''Spooks''. The character was met with generally mixed reviews from critics.
Role in ''Spooks''
Character arc
Maya Lahan was born in
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
on 20 September 1975. She became the girlfriend of
John Bateman (
Richard Armitage) whilst attending
Leeds University
The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...
.
Maya was once aspired to open her own
Tapas
Tapas () are appetisers or snacks in Spanish cuisine. They can be combined to make a full meal and are served cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such as , which are battered, fried baby squid; or , spicy potatoes). In some bars ...
bar.
[ When John became stuck in ]Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
, he worked with Vaughn Edwards (Iain Glen
Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the Resident Evil (film series), ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont, Jorah Morm ...
) as a courier in order to get back home, but Maya remained unaware of his activities.[ Vaughn remembered that during their time, John would talk to him about Maya for hours at a time.] However, after he was involved in the bombing of a British Embassy
This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Co ...
in 1995, John was forced to leave Maya and murder friend Lucas North, and since started masquerading as him. In the belief that John died, Maya got on with her life, becoming a doctor and enters a relationship with Vaughn (whom she knows as Michael).[
Fifteen years later, in the first episode of the ninth series, Vaughn visits Lucas and leaves him with several mementos of his former life,] including pictures of him and Maya. Lucas finds the hospital where she works to meet her. However, Maya coldly rejects him, stating she moved on with somebody else, and that she no longer needs him.[ By the end of the third episode however, Lucas invites her to his home and the two have sex on a kitchen table,] thus restarting their relationship. However, over the course of the series, Vaughn has been manipulating Lucas, by giving him Maya back into his life, in order to get his hands on an MI5 file named "Albany", which contain blueprints for a genetic weapon
An ethnic bioweapon (or a biogenetic weapon) is a hypothetical type of bioweapon which could preferentially target people of specific ethnicities or people with specific genotypes.
History
One of the first modern fictional discussions of ethnic ...
. To further force Lucas' hand in getting the file, Vaughn abducts Maya, though he was possibly doing this in order to protect her from Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
agents who wish to acquire Albany, and threatening to rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
then behead
Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...
Maya should Vaughn fail to deliver. Later, Lucas finds Maya after mortally wounding Vaughn.[ Having confessed his past crimes to his MI5 superior, ]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 ...
(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 ...
), Lucas intends to flee the country with Maya, and agrees to give the Chinese Albany in exchange for money, and new identities for the couple. However, Maya is approached by hired specialist, Alec White (Vincent Regan
Vincent Regan (born 16 May 1965) is a Welsh film and television actor.
Early life
Regan born 16 May 1965 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. He attended Nicholas Breakspear School, St.Albans, Hertfordshire, then St Joseph's College, Ipswich, before ...
), who tells her of Lucas's past crimes. By doing so, Maya turns against Lucas, and attempts to get him to surrender. However, when Beth Bailey
Beth Bailey is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series ''Spooks (TV series), Spooks'', which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division in MI5. She is portrayed by British actress Sophia Myles. Beth Bail ...
(Sophia Myles
Sophia Myles () is an English actress. She is best known in film for portraying Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds (2004 film), ''Thunderbirds'' (2004), Isolde in ''Tristan & Isolde (film), Tristan & Isolde'' (2006), Darcy in ''Transfo ...
) and Dimitri Levendis ( Max Brown) arrive, Lucas takes Maya to his car and evades them. When Beth and Demitri open fire, a bullet hits Maya in the torso, and she dies. Because a GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...
tracker was placed on Maya, Lucas leaves her body behind.
Characteristics and relationships
Maya is depicted as the first love of Lucas North. Laila Rouass
Laila Rouass ( Abdesselam; born 22 June 1971) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Amber Gates in ''Footballers' Wives'' (2004–2006) and Sahira Shah in ''Holby City'' (2011–2012, 2021). She has also starred in ''Pri ...
stated "she's the love of his life and he's the love of hers."[ When he is forced to disappear, it "completely rocks her world."] Armitage meanwhile believed that Maya had an effect with every relationship Lucas had since, and having failed them all, Lucas hangs onto thinking about Maya.[ When Lucas returns, Maya's life is turns "upside down,"][ and she is angry at him because she feels betrayed by him.][ Armitage stated that Lucas was "just compelled to see her" after looking at photographs of them both together, and really shapes his future. Both characters go on "quite an interesting journey" because Maya moved on with her life without Lucas, and he has to fight to get her to listen to him. However, when they start to restart their relationship, Vaughn gets in the way and "throws water over it."] Rouass believes that Lucas "definitely" trusts Maya without question,[ and that their relationship is "dynamic and explosive" and makes them "question certain things."][ Neither of them can control their relationship, which scares Maya. Iain Glen believed that Maya is also Lucas' central weakness, and his love for her becomes instrumental to his downfall.][
]
Conceptual history
In March 2010, it was announced that Laila Rouass has joined the cast of the ninth series of '' Spooks'', along with Max Brown and Sophia Myles
Sophia Myles () is an English actress. She is best known in film for portraying Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds (2004 film), ''Thunderbirds'' (2004), Isolde in ''Tristan & Isolde (film), Tristan & Isolde'' (2006), Darcy in ''Transfo ...
, however at the time Sarah Brandist from 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 ...
refused to reveal details of the character, including the name, citing "we don't want to give too much away as intrigue and betrayal are at the heart of the storylines." Later in May of the same year, co-star Richard Armitage announced Rouass would play a character named Maya, described as "an old flame of Lucas's, possibly his first love."
Rouass was acquainted with the series, having viewed the first two series and "dipped in and out of it." She also stated that Maya is only a background character throughout the series, meaning her role is limited, and does not play a spy or becoming "part of this mafia or that mafia." Due to her limited appearance, the actress was available to perform other projects, including ''The Sarah Jane Adventures
''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC s ...
'' and ''Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...
'', as well as spending the free time with her daughter.[ Rouass does not participate in any stunt work, but does appear in "a lot of passionate scenes." Having gotten used to filming sex scenes in '']Footballers' Wives
''Footballers' Wives'' is a British television drama about fictional Premier League football club Earls Park F.C., its players and their wives. It was broadcast on ITV from 2002 to 2006. The show initially focuses on three very different coupl ...
'', Rouass noticed that while humour was involved in ''Footballers' Wives'', ''Spooks'' was more passionate and very choreographed.[ In an interview with the '']Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'', Rouass recalled one of the scenes; "there's one scene where we get together in the kitchen and the director was like, 'Come on, let's be honest, you haven't seen each other for years, you're not going to get all romantic, you're going to shag her on the table.'"
Rouass liked working with Armitage during her duration on the series, having met him in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
a few years prior,[ as well as Iain Glen, who plays Vaughn Edwards, although she was worried that should "Maya let anything happen to ]ucas
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a charity and private limited company based in Cheltenham, England, which provides educational support services. Formed on 27 July 1993 by the merger of the former university admis ...
I'll be one of the most hated women in the country." She also admitted she had "no idea" if her character would be killed off, but said in an interview with ''Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
'', "at the end of the day, you just know what the show's about. You know there's a chance that you could go, but you have to embrace that."[
]
Reception
The character was met by generally mixed reactions from critics. Nick Bryan of ''Dork Adore'' was not convinced of the Lucas and Maya storyline, stating "I keep forgetting she exists whenever she's off-screen. Vicky Frost of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' had mixed reactions towards the character, writing "let's hope that Maya turns out to be more than just a device for us to find out about Lucas' past," but adds that she is not "holding my breath." For the finale, Frost criticised the writing behind the line where Maya admits she always believed Lucas' actions when she was told "seemed almost giddily optimistic."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahan, Maya
Television characters introduced in 2010
Fictional physicians
Fictional people from London
Spooks (TV series) characters