Richard Armitage joins 'Spooks' cast

LONDON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- British actor Richard Armitage has joined the cast of the popular U.K. spy drama series "Spooks," known as "MI-5" when it airs on BBC America.

Armitage is best known for playing Guy of Gisborne on the adventure series "Robin Hood," and for his portrayal of John Thornton in the BBC miniseries "North and South." He also had a recurring role on the comedy series "The Vicar of Dibley."

The actor will appear in "Spooks's" seventh season, which is scheduled to premiere on BBC1 Monday.

Asked how he feels about being the show's latest heartthrob after Matthew Macfadyen and Rupert Penry-Jones, Armitage told The Daily Telegraph: "What is the 'Spooks' 'hunk mantle' anyway? Is it a piece of clothing I have to wear? I guess that's part of the job criteria but I don't really think about it to be honest. Compared to Rupert I'm pretty average in the hunk department."

Armitage said he likes how "Spooks" reflects what is going on in the world today.

"You've got one episode which is about financial terrorism and one episode about cyber warfare where you see the economy driven into the ground in the space of an hour," he told the Telegraph. "Don't you think that's incredibly good writing to make a prediction like that?"

As for whether the spying on the show is realistic, Armitage observed, "Since real spies are so good you never really know what actual spying is. But I do think spying is a lot more dangerous than we are led to believe."