Slow Horses

''Slow Horses'' is a British spy thriller television series based on the '' Slough House'' series of novels by Mick Herron, created by Will Smith. It follows an MI5 unit where disgraced or failed agents are consigned, under the supervision of Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). It also stars Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sophie Okenedo, Jonathan Pryce, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, and Christopher Chung.

The series premiered on Apple TV+ on 1 April 2022 to highly positive reviews. The first four series have been based on the novels ''Slow Horses'', ''Dead Lions'', ''Real Tigers'', and ''Spook Street'' respectively. It has been renewed for fifth and sixth series based on the novels ''London Rules'', ''Joe Country'', and ''Slough House''. The fifth series is slated to premiere on 24 September 2025.

Premise

Slough House is an administrative purgatory for MI5 service rejects who have seriously failed a task but not badly enough to get sacked. Those consigned there are known as "slow horses", a play on the name of the place itself, Slough House, and an expression for people who are slow at thinking and action. Those assigned there are expected to endure dull, routine tasks, along with occasional verbal abuse from their miserable boss, Jackson Lamb, who anticipates that they will leave out of boredom or frustration. Life in Slough House is defined by drudgery. Yet the slow horses somehow get involved in investigating cases that endanger Britain.

Cast and characters

Main

* Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the head of Slough House who is unkempt, flatulent, rude and has a sour wit; all disguising a tactical sharpness and firm loyalty to 'his' Slow Horses.
* Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, an up-and-coming MI5 agent abruptly shunted to Slough House after a very public training-exercise blunder.
* Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner, the Deputy Director General of MI5 and head of operations and designated "Second Desk".
* Sophie Okonedo as Ingrid Tearney (series 3; special guest series 1), the Director General of MI5, often referred to as "First Desk".
* Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright (series 4; special guest series 1–3), River Cartwright's grandfather, a retired senior MI5 officer who was once the power behind the throne. He is often known/referred to as "The OB" or "The Old Bastard".
* Hugo Weaving as Frank Harkness (series 4–present), a former CIA operative turned mercenary. He is later revealed to be River's biological father.

Special guests

* Katherine Waterston as Alison Dunn (series 3), an MI5 agent who uncovers a dark secret at the heart of the agency.
* Sope Dirisu as Sean Donovan (series 3), a former head of security at the British embassy in Istanbul.

Slough House

* Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish, office administrator, recovering alcoholic, still enamoured with her long-deceased superior.
* Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy, assigned to Slough House after a tail operation went badly wrong.
* Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho, an obnoxious computer nerd and former hacktivist on whose brilliant tech skills the Slow Horses are forced to rely.
*Dustin Demri-Burns as Min Harper (series 1–2), assigned after absent-mindedly leaving a top-secret disk on the train.
* Olivia Cooke as Sidonie "Sid" Baker (series 1), a competent, likeable MI5 agent inexplicably assigned to Slough House.
* Steven Waddington as Jed Moody (series 1), an ex-member of the "Dogs", an MI5 internal affairs and tactical unit.
* Paul Higgins as Struan Loy (series 1), assigned after sending an inappropriate work email.
* Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander (series 2–present), who has anger and drug issues.
* Kadiff Kirwan as Marcus Longridge (series 2–4), who tends to gamble on the job.
* Joanna Scanlan as Moira Tregorian (series 4–present), one of the Queens of the Database, banished to Slough House by Claude Whelan. She becomes Catherine's temporary replacement.
*Tom Brooke as J.K. Coe (series 4–present), the newest 'Slow Horse' and former operative from Psych Eval.

Others

Notable other characters appearing in more than one series include:
* Chris Reilly as Nick Duffy (series 1–3), head of MI5's internal affairs and ruthless tactical unit nicknamed the "Dogs".
* Chris Coghill as Hobbs (series 1 & 3), a member of the Dogs.
* Samuel West as Peter Judd MP (series 1–3), a right-wing Conservative politician with sharp elbows who is later promoted to Home Secretary.
* Freddie Fox as James "Spider" Webb (series 1–3), a smug MI5 agent based at Regent's Park headquarters.
* Naomi Wirthner as Molly Doran (series 2–present), an MI5 records keeper at Regent's Park.
* Sean Gilder as "Bad" Sam Chapman (series 2–4), former Head Dog and David Cartwright's bodyguard turned Private Detective.
* Ruth Bradley as Emma Flyte (series 4–present), the straight-minded new Head of the Dogs.
* James Callis as Claude Whelan (series 4–present), the over-promoted new Director General of MI5 or 'First Desk'.

Notable other characters appearing in Series 1 include:

* Antonio Aakeel as Hassan Ahmed, Leeds University student kidnapped by the Sons of Albion.
* Paul Hilton as Robert Hobden, a disgraced and struggling journalist with ties to extremist far-right groups.
* Sam Hazeldine as Moe, the leader of the Sons of Albion, an extremist far-right group, with a secret to hide.
* Brian Vernel as Curly, a fanatical member of the Sons of Albion.
* Stephen Walters as Zeppo, a member of the Sons of Albion.
* David Walmsley as Larry, a member of the Sons of Albion.
* James Faulkner as Charles Partner (in flashbacks), a former Director General of MI5 during the Cold War, whom Standish worked for as his personal assistant.

Notable other characters appearing in Series 2 include:
* Rade Šerbedžija as Nikolai Katinsky, a former KGB agent living in exile in London after defecting at the end of the Cold War.
* Marek Vašut as Andre Chernitsky, a former KGB operative and assassin who operated during the Cold War.
* Alec Utgoff as Arkady Pashkin, a fixer for oligarch Ilya Nevsky.
* Catherine McCormack as Alex Tropper, a local resident in the small village of Upshott, the wife of Duncan and mother of Kelly.
* Adrian Rawlins as Duncan Tropper, a pub owner in Upshott, the husband of Alex and father of Kelly.
* Tamsin Topolski as Kelly Tropper, a pub barmaid in Upshott and the daughter of Alex and Duncan.
* Phil Davis as Richard Bough, aka Dickie Bow, a former MI5 officer, who was disgraced and is long since retired.

Notable other characters appearing in Series 3 include:
* Siôn Daniel Young as Douglas, an MI5 records keeper.
* Charlie Rowe as Ben, a member of Donovan's team.
* Eliot Salt as Sarah, a member of Donovan's team.
* Gavin Spokes as Sly Monteith, head of the private security firm Chieftain.
* Nick Blood as Sturges, a Chieftain operative.

Notable other characters appearing in Series 4 include:
* Kiran Sonia Sawar as Giti Rahman, an MI5 agent at Regent's Park
* Tom Wozniczka as Patrice, a mercenary working under Harkness
* Anna Wilson-Jones as Isobel Cartwright, River's mother and David's daughter.

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2022)

''Slow Horses'' is based on the novel of the same name by Mick Herron, which is part of the author's Slough House series. It tells the story of a team of British intelligence agents who have all committed career-ending mistakes, and subsequently work in a dumping ground department of MI5 called Slough House.

Series 2 (2022)

Series 3 (2023)

Series 4 (2024)

Production

Development

The series was given a straight to series order by Apple TV+ in October 2019. Each of the first five series is based on an individual book in the ''Slough House'' set. In June 2022, ahead of the second series premiere, the show was renewed for a third and fourth series, which are based on the next novels ''Real Tigers'' and ''Spook Street''. In January 2024, the programme was renewed for a fifth series, which will be based on the fifth book, ''London Rules''. In October 2024, the show was renewed for a sixth series, which will be based on the sixth and seventh books, ''Joe Country'' and ''Slough House''. The fifth series is scheduled to be released on 24 September 2025, with two new episodes, followed by a new episode on a weekly basis until the season finale on 22 October 2025.

Casting

In October 2019, along with the series order, Gary Oldman was announced to star. The cast was rounded out in December 2020 with the additions of Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden.

Filming

Filming of the first series began on 30 November 2020 in England, and continued into February 2021. In July 2021, filming continued in Stroud, Gloucestershire. It was originally intended to film earlier in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By March 2023, filming for the third series had been completed and filming for the fourth series was about to begin. The fourth series was directed by Adam Randall.

Music

The title track "Strange Game" was performed by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who wrote the song for the show with the show's composer Daniel Pemberton.

Reception

The first series received highly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes lists a 95% approval rating with an average rating of 7.7/10, based on 60 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Slow Horses'' refreshes the espionage genre by letting its band of snoops be bumbling, with Gary Oldman giving a masterclass in frumpy authority." On Metacritic, the first series has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 22 critics.

Rotten Tomatoes reports a 100% approval rating for the second series, with an average rating of 8.5/10, based on 26 critics' reviews. The website's critical consensus says, "''Slow Horses'' says nay to the sophomore jinx with a second series that might be even better than its supremely addictive predecessor." On Metacritic, series two has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 based on 10 critics. Oldman was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for his portrayal of Lamb.

The third series received a 98% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes, with an average of 8.5/10, based on 44 critics' reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Slow Horses'' shabby charms reach a full gallop in this superb third season, yielding what might just be Slough House's most compelling operation yet." On Metacritic, series three has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 21 critics. The third series received nine Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Gary Oldman, Supporting Actor in a Drama series for Jack Lowden and Best Drama Series.

The fourth series received a 100% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes, with an average of 8.6/10, based on reviews from 40 critics. The website's critical consensus says, "The stakes get more personal than ever before in ''Slow Horses'' superb fourth season, proving that this spy series is saddled up for the long haul with no signs of fatigue." On Metacritic, series four has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 19 critics. Oldman was nominated for his second Golden Globe, second BAFTA Award, and first Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance.

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

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{{Apple TV+

2022 British television series debuts
2020s British drama television series
British thriller television series
Television shows filmed in England
Television productions postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Apple TV+ original programming
Television shows based on British novels
Television series by Sony Pictures Television
British English-language television shows
MI5 in fiction
Spy thriller television series
British spy television series