him being the main character. When portraying the character, Macfadyen did what he was told to do; he did not want to create a backstory for the character as he did not find merit in doing so. Keeley Hawes plays junior case officer Zoe Reynolds. Hawes was attracted to the parallels between acting and spying. The actress described Zoe as "a feisty little number. She can be quite cold and you don't really know her," and the series sees "flashes of how she can be". David Oyelowo plays fellow junior case officer Danny Hunter. Oyelowo first became aware of the show when his agent brought him the script, and was quickly intrigued by the project, and wanted a part to play in it. He downplayed his enthusiasm to get the part. Macfadyen, Hawes and Oyelowo were initially wary of playing the lead characters even though the actors were in their mid-twenties, but eventually felt that they earned the right to be in the series. Peter Firth plays the head of the counter-terrorism department, Harry Pearce. Firth was interested in the series after hearing of Brenton's involvement in the project, and thought Spooks was "special" and "different" from British television at the time. Firth would "pepper" the dialogue with quotations from famous classical works, with moral and religious philosophies. Jenny Agutter plays Tessa Philips, senior case officer for Section K. The actress described Tessa as "hard edged" and "not a nice person", but straightforward and not initially expected to be corrupt. She realised that although Tessa would start off as a peripheral character, her role would build as the series continued. Tessa's story was described by a BBC press release as being about "the dangers of corruption from within". Lisa Faulkner portrays admin support officer Helen Flynn. Esther Hall plays Tom's girlfriend and restaurant owner Ellie Simm, while Heather Cave plays her eight-year-old daughter, Maisie. Hall felt that Ellie was the character the audience could identify with. The producers created Maisie because they believed that children are often "the best spies of all". Hugh Simon plays technical officer Malcolm Wynn-Jones, and Greame Mearns plays MI5 officer Jed Kelley. The first series also sees a number of recurring characters and guest appearances. Rory MacGregor appears in two episodes as Colin Wells, an MI5 technical officer. American actress Megan Dodds appears in the first episode as CIA liaison Christine Dale. The producers were