Gary Oldman stars in Apple TV's Slow Horses

Apple TV's adaptation of Mick Herron's spy-thriller follows a dysfunctional band of disgraced MI5 spies

Hannah Ross
13th May 2022
With Apple TV releasing its new adaptation of Mick Herron's book series, Slow Horses, it has been interesting to see how the dynamics are changed to work on screen. Staying true to the book, Slow Horses follows River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) and a group of failed spies who have ended up in Slough House, to spend the rest of their careers traipsing through decades-old data and feeling fairly useless. 

They work under the eye of the disgusting Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) – no one knows what he did to end up at the spy dumping ground, they only know that he farts constantly, drinks on the job and takes joy in making the Slow Horses feel worthless. However, when a far-right group kidnap a young Asian student and the Slow Horses come under threat, it transpires that Lamb is actually very effective at keeping them out of trouble, despite how unpleasant he is. 

Image Credit: IMDb

Transforming the story into a show has meant that some of Jackson Lamb's unpleasantness has had to be drawn back to work with the use of dialogue over description. This has affected my opinion of the show as whilst River is at the centre of the story, Lamb takes the spotlight in much of the interaction he is involved in. However, it looks as if the producers have supplemented this loss with small comedic exchanges scattered throughout to make the series just as humorous to watch, despite the dark events unfolding in the background.  

Image Credit: IMDb

The storyline itself has a slightly odd feel to it, though this is more accountable to Mick Herron himself as the series has produced almost an exact replica. It appears to try make some statement about racism and extremist groups, especially trying to surprise people that it is British nationalist extremists kidnapping an Asian boy rather than the other way around. Even though the reveal is more surprising in the book, in both cases it feels out of place as much more emphasis is put on the spies and the secret service. The whole premise is that MI5 are made to look good in the public eye and throwing the Slow Horses under the bus for any mistakes. There is some justification for the statement but I feel that it does not fit in smoothly with the rest of the story. 

That being said, the series is great for any lover of modern-day spy thrillers and is an interesting concept to contribute to the genre. I would recommend it to anybody with an Apple TV subscription but would not go out of the way to buy the subscription only for the purposes of watching it. 

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