If you saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, you know Oscar-winner Gary Oldman has a knack for playing understated British spies based on acclaimed novels that are the complete antithesis of James Bond. And it looks like Oldman will be jumping into this very specific world again: Apple TV+ just ordered Slow Horses, a spy series from Oldman, executive producer Graham Yost, and head writer Will Smith (not that one, the other one).
Slow Horses is based on an acclaimed series of spy novels from award-winning British novelist Mick Herron. The works center around Slough House, a facility where cast-aside MI5 agents are exiled from their peers for various offenses and mistakes. Jackson Lamb is the leader of this island of misfit spies — he will, of course, be played by Oldman. No other cast has been announced just yet, but here’s hoping the producers hire every “very good British character actor” to round it all out.
Image via STX Entertainment
Yost’s last high-profile TV project was Justified, another genre-bending drama based on an acclaimed series of novels. Slow Horses seems like a natural extension for him. Head writer Smith, who was not the genie in this year’s Aladdin adaptation, is in fact a British comedian and writer known for Veep and The Thick of It. This will be Smith’s first foray into a straight drama, though I’m willing to bet he’ll inject the unorthodox premise with a shot of gallows humor, which sounds very up my alley. Production company See-Saw Films also gave us moody mystery show Top of the Lake, alongside many other acclaimed international co-productions. All of this adds up to a very, very British sounding show — and the perfect thing to enjoy with a dad. Dads love this kind of stuff. Watch this with your dad. You’ll thank me later.
Check out the official synopsis for Slow Horses below. Looking for more stuff to watch on Apple TV+? Check out our list of everything available to watch on the service, plus our reviews of The Morning Show and Dickinson.
“Slow Horses” follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 – Slough House. Oldman will star as “Jackson Lamb,” the brilliant but irascible leader of the spies who end up in Slough House due to their career ending mistakes.
