SPOILER ALERT: This story features major plot points from Season 2 of Slow Horses.
Gary Oldman, star of Apple TV+’s espionage drama series Slow Horses, is enjoying the freedom of playing “knowingly obnoxious” spy Jackson Lamb, although he’s gone off kung pao chicken for the time being.
Oldman’s Lamb is the boss of Slough House, a division of MI5 where spies go after they screw up at The Park. He is surrounded by the likes of Saskia Reeves’ Catherine Standish, Jack Lowden’s River Cartwright, Rosalind Eleazar’s Louisa Guy, Dustin Demri-Burns’ Min Harper and Christopher Chung’s Roddy Ho.
The group, which launched its Season 2 on the streamer in December, also now features Kadiff Kirwan’s Marcus Longridge and Aimee-Ffion Edwards’ Shirley Dander. In Season 3, which has been shot, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù’s Sean Donovan also joins.
During a Deadline-moderated FYC panel, the cast teased a little bit of Season 3, which is based on Mick Herron’s Real Tigers and sees the group work together to foil a rogue agent when one of their own is kidnapped.
It involves conspiracy theories and new characters, and the Slough House team must break into MI5 HQ while also dealing with the Secret Service.
Oldman said that Diana Taverner, otherwise known as Lady Di, the Deputy Director-General of MI5 and head of operations played by Kristin Scott Thomas, “really comes into play” in Season 3.
Reeves added that there’s more action. “There is a lot of bang, bang, chase, chase,” she said.
Chung’s Ho, an obnoxious computer hacker, has died his hair blond, as has Eleazar’s Guy, who is dealing with the loss of her boyfriend Min, played by Demri-Burns, who dies in Season 2. Chung says it’s “peacocking” in a bid to win her affections.
“Ho fancies Louisa in Season 3, and Louisa goes a bit mental trying to rid herself of her old identity, so she dyed her hair blonde and then you try and copy me but your is a bit orange,” added Eleazar.
However, Oldman cautions that viewers shouldn’t expect any character growth from Jackson Lamb. “Mick Herron said that the plot is secondary, it’s about the characters and how we connect with them. Yeah, there’s a story and there’s a plot, but with each season we get a lens that looks at a character and we learn a little more about [them],” he added.
Lamb is a fascinating character; a much better spy than you’d expect and despite his constant put-downs towards his employees, he’s a loyal man.
“It’s wonderful to have this sort of freedom to be so nauseous. When I get the script, and I’ve got a line that’s a put down or an insult I just can’t wait to see their faces. He’s knowingly obnoxious, he’s sort of constantly winding people up. He gives the impression that he doesn’t care and I think probably may care the most. He is very, very loyal. Even though he thinks they’re a bunch of losers,” Oldman said.
Slow Horses highlights some of the mundanity and unusual eating habits of spies, in a way that other spy books and series don’t.
For instance, Lamb is a big fan of a bowl of noodles. “We shot that in the morning. Because we had angles coming in and then overs where you could see me eating, then from the other side of the room, I think I ended up eating 17 bowls of noodles and then we broke for lunch,” he joked. “I didn’t go near a noodle for a long time.”
“I think that’s why the books were successful. I think hopefully it’s why the show works. You don’t see James Bond go to the loo and Miss Moneypenny doesn’t pick her laundry up and go to the launderette,” he added.
Standish is the office administrator, and has been around MI5 for a long time, and Reeves said that Standish is grateful to have a job, particularly as a recovering alcoholic. “She has to put up with a lot but she can give as good as she gets and she’s probably the best spy out of all of them. But she’s just a secretary,” she added.
Longridge joins Slough House in Season 2, ostensibly for his gambling addiction. Kirwan said, “It’s like starting school halfway through the term and everyone’s already started and made friends but to be honest with you, it was very easy. I was welcomed with open arms.”
Min’s death at the hands of the Russians is a major plot point in Season 2 and Demri-Burns says despite being killed off, it’s nice to play a role with so much impact. “He’s smart and he can get by, but he’s just not quite got the goods,” he added. “I think he’s a bit useless.”
His death influences Louisa, who returns to work to foil the Russian plot.
“It all happens so quickly over the course of two days so she doesn’t have any time to grieve. She goes straight back into a job. I’m sure we’ve all lost someone in our lives and grief kind of works in really weird ways. She just doesn’t have any time to process it, so her energy is kind of displaced into fighting and finding out why the Russians killed him. That follows through … we can’t say too much about the next season but sometimes when a life event like that happens to you it can really change the fabric of your being,” Eleazar added.
Apple handed the series a double renewal – Season 3 has been shot and filming on Season 4 is set to start next week.
“We’re just about to head off to shoot Season 4 and if you think [Jackson Lamb] is flatulent now…,” jokes Oldman.
The series is produced for Apple TV+ by See-Saw Films and adapted for television by Will Smith (Veep). Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Douglas Urbanski, Gail Mutrux, Will Smith, Jane Robertson and Graham Yost serve as executive producers.
