 Amanda Mealing plays Colonel Eleanor Grant , a " smart , tough military leader who is skilled with a gun and diplomacy , but knows when to break a rule or two . " She is the new head of Section 20 , replacing Hugh Collinson from the first series . Mealing described Grant as " hard as nails , " " very contained , very direct , " and " very driven . " Grant is also very distant from her team ; " she commands so she is not their pal but , at the same time , the guys are like her family . They spend so much time together moving from place to place . But , in a kind of motherly way , she has to keep them in check and sometimes they need a firm hand . " The actress called her role " the best role I 've ever had , " adding " when I 'm doing action scenes like flying in helicopters , the hardest thing is to keep a serious face as all I want to do is scream for joy . " She researched for her role by taking advice from a female officer in a similar high @-@ ranking position as Grant is . One piece of advice the officer gave Mealing was " you mustn 't try to be one of the boys or they 'll lose respect for you , but you 've got to be in charge . " 
