I have mixed feelings about him. I like the character but he doesn't
seem to
fit too well. Despite several years (TV time) the character never seemed
to
grow more assured. He always seemed to stay the junior Sandbagger no
matter
what.
Yes, but wasn't that the point of his character? He was the baby
Sandbagger. He was "muggins", always getting to do the dirty work, never
trusted with all the information. In terms of the narrative, he allowed
Neil and Willie to have "tete a tetes" in Neil's office. I would also
say that despite this, he was shown to grow. Think of "My Name is Anna
Wiseman", where he's "on his bike" because he's a better shot than
Willie; or how Neil looks to him for advice because of his SAS
experience; or his harrowing trip to the Soviet Union to rescue the CIA
agent and how calmly he pulls it off; or the bust out in Warsaw with his
best line of the series "Sorry to spoil your day." I'd say Mike did
pretty well, although he kept Neil and Willie both on a pedestal.
Mark