Character Profile: Tom Quinn at 5:14 PM

Name: Tom Quinn
Actor: Matthew Macfadyen
Position: Section Chief
Tenure: 1.1 - 3.2

Bio:

Quinn is intelligent, dedicated and focused with impeccable instinct, making him an exceptional intelligence officer. He has natural leadership traits and relates well to all of his staff. He joined Section D in June 1996, directly from his training. Quinn was particularly close to his boss Harry Pearce and the two ran Section D effectively. He helped both Zoe Reynolds and Danny Hunter (who were his junior officers) in their careers and training.

In the first series Tom Quinn's girlfriend is Ellie Simm who knows him as "Matthew Archer". When later in the series she finds out that he works for MI5 and has not even told her his real name, she is not happy. However she begins to accept his career and all goes well. However, during the episode "The Lesser of Two Evils" at the end of the first series, their house is apparently blown up when Tom unknowingly brings a bomb home. As a result, Ellie makes Quinn choose between her and his job; he chooses his job and they split up in the first episode of series two.

During series two, Quinn's character develops further. Upon realizing that Ruth Evershed is a mole for GCHQ, he manages to turn her and she has a faultless career thereafter. In the fifth episode of the series (during an EERIE exercise) the team believes that a bomb has gone off in London and they are all going to die; however Tom (with the help of Ruth and Zoe) manages to keep the team together and was congratulated on a 'superb display of leadership'.

Towards the end of the series, Quinn's conscience starts to interfere with his work. After a difficult operation in which he goes undercover and an army officer is killed whilst trying to help improve the army, he starts to question his purpose. Tom's CIA girlfriend, Christine Dale, proved to be Tom's downfall as she unknowingly fed him a false telex about an American hitman coming to the UK (during the second season finale). 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 in the left shoulder while escaping with the intention of proving his innocence. The rest of the team believed Tom was a traitor and the last shot of Tom during the second series saw him swimming out into the North Sea.

Eventually, with the help of Adam Carter, the team was saved and Oliver Mace, who was using Tom's "treachery" to destroy MI5, was forced to back down. Tom was proved innocent and returned to Section D. However in the following episode, Tom was tasked to use a scientist and his family in a fly trap operation to try and capture terrorists. Tom got a rush of morality and almost ruined an operation, forcing Harry to decommission him from the Service; ending his career at MI5. Tom was escorted back to Thames House by Adam, and later, after finalizing his dismissal, said his final goodbye to Harry (Danny and Zoe refusing to speak to him). Harry revealed he made sure Tom would not be disciplined, and will also receive the extra-large and very generous special pension (a "pay-off" for rogue officers), as well as admitting that, if it is true the job is slowly destroying them, then Harry is envious of Tom leaving while he still could.

Tom then left The Grid and departed Thames House. With one more look towards the camera over the entrance, with Harry seeing him from the other end, Tom turned away and walked away for good.