Beth Bailey

Beth Bailey
Spooks character
Sophia Myles as Beth Bailey
First appearance	Series 9, Episode 1
Last appearance	Series 9, Episode 8
Portrayed by	Sophia Myles
Information
Aliases	Claire
Occupation	MI5 officer
Title	Junior Case Officer, Section D
Nationality	British

Beth Bailey is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks, which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division in MI5. She is portrayed by British actress Sophia Myles. Beth Bailey was introduced in Spooks's ninth series as a private contractor in her first episode, and later joins Section D. The character is based on a real-life person Myles met while working on the series. Reaction towards the character was generally positive.

At age 18, Beth trained with MI6 while studying at the University of Edinburgh. She eventually decided she didn't want to work with them, and worked as a private contractor. At 22, she worked with a Colombian militant group as a way to anger her father, until she realised what she got herself into and left. She first appears in the series nine premiere disguised as a prostitute in a freighter from Tangier, working to track Hussein Abib, a Somali terrorist Lucas North (Richard Armitage) was sent to kill. They both escape the ship when Abib's men take control of the ship. Afterwards, Beth reveals that a Colombian drug lord built submersibles to smuggle drugs; because of this, MI5 learn Abib is using the submersibles to smuggle explosives to the Houses of Parliament. After they stop the attack, Harry instates her to MI5 officer.

In the next episode, Harry plans on dismissing her after she is lying to the team; she appears to work with an assassin, but she successfully explains her subterfuge as "the way we used to work" to avoid any damage. Lucas later gives her another chance after he is promoted to head of Section D. In the fourth episode, Beth successfully turns Kai from Chinese intelligence to become an asset, the first time MI5 was able to do so.