Why Slow Horses is the best spy show on TV

The Independent

If Slow Horses isn’t already your latest TV obsession, it soon will be. With season five of the hit Apple TV+ drama rolling out weekly, Jackson Lamb and his band of MI5 misfits return to prove that espionage is about far more than martinis and tuxedos.This week on Streamline, we explore Gary Oldman’s career-defining turn as the flatulent, foul-mouthed spymaster, how this “anti-Bond” thriller cleverly upends the spy genre, and why audiences can’t resist rooting for the underdog.

Transcript

00:00This is Streamline, your weekly guide to what's actually worth watching across TV,

00:04film, and everything in between. And if you're stuck on what to get into this autumn,

00:07then stop what you're doing and go and watch Slow Horses on Apple TV+.

00:11If this is an on-the-spot performance review, I have to tell you,

00:15I am absolutely killing it right now.

00:17Yes, Jackson Lam, everyone's favourite flatulent...

00:20flat... flatulent...

00:21favourite flatulent foulmouth...

00:23fa... why did I write that?

00:25Everyone's favourite flatulent foulmouth is back,

00:28along with his ragtag team of MI5 rejects, the Slow Horses.

00:31You'll be thrown out for this.

00:35We've already been thrown out.

00:37If you think espionage is all...

00:39think again.

00:40The show follows a group of disgraced MI5 agents sent to paper-pushing purgatory at Slough House.

00:45So yeah, it's a pun. There aren't actually any horses in this show.

00:49Led by the gloriously crude Jackson Lam,

00:52the dysfunctional group of misfits have to use their overlooked skills

00:55to help save the country from a series of threats that the proper spies can't handle.

00:59Season 5 opens with a bang.

01:02Literally.

01:02We see a far-right gunman open fire on a group of people outside a shopping centre,

01:06where we even spot a few St George's flags.

01:09Now, Slow Horses is not a show that shies away from these kind of topics.

01:13It explored white nationalism back in Season 1,

01:15but this feels especially pointed and timely at the moment.

01:19Sinister forces are trying to bring down the country.

01:22What are we going to do?

01:23And don't say nothing.

01:24And front and centre of this season is everyone's favourite repellent computer hacker,

01:29Roddy Ho, whose actions set off a chain of disastrous events.

01:32I caught up with Christopher Chung about playing TV's most obnoxious character.

01:35I mean, you are more, like, pitiful and cringe-inducing than ever, so bravo to you.

01:40The thing about Roddy is that he's unfiltered and he's unashamed to say exactly what's on his mind,

01:48because everybody around him is living in his world.

01:52This guy is so deluded in his view of himself, that's quite endearing in some way.

01:59Nothing raises my spidey senses as much as hearing a woman is happy to spend time with you.

02:05The series is based on Mick Heron's novels, with Season 5 adapted from London Rules.

02:09And it was adapted for TV by Will Smith.

02:11No, not that Will Smith.

02:13That Will Smith, who co-wrote The Thick of It and Veep.

02:16So you know the insults are going to be pretty below the belt.

02:18Bringing you up the speed's like trying to explain Norway to a dog.

02:22And Gary Oldman is the driving force of the show.

02:25He's really giving a career-defining performance as this dishevelled, farty, noodle-slurping crank.

02:31And so Gary really has earned that knighthood,

02:34claiming to have once eaten a whopping 17 bowls of noodles in one sitting for a single scene.

02:40I know that, you s***.

02:42I mean, working with Gary has made me an exponentially better actor since Season 1.

02:46You just can't help but want to raise the bar of your own level of work when you're opposite someone like him.

02:53He's not totalitarian about the way that he approaches the work.

02:56It's not...

02:57And he absolutely could be.

02:59He's got all the accolades to justify his point of view.

03:02But he makes it a conversation.

03:04Look what I've got to work with.

03:05A crack-up, a drunk psychopath.

03:07Whatever that is.

03:08All of them more functional than you.

03:10Slow Horses flips the spy genre by making us root for the losers, not the Bonds.

03:15And I think that's what's so addictive about this show,

03:17is how these hapless underdogs always end up triumphing over the slick agents at MI5.

03:23And come on, who among us can't relate to a group of total losers coming together to solve stuff?

03:28It's really difficult to see yourself reflected in this spy genre like James Bond,

03:35because it's so shiny and it's martinis and really incredible hotels.

03:41This is an office comedy, really, set in the barbican,

03:45where people go to the Chinese restaurant downstairs and eat, you know, the five-pound chow mein.

03:49And it's really relatable, so people can really get on board with the characters

03:55because they see parts of themselves reflected within the piece.

03:58And Apple clearly knows they're onto a winner, having already started production on season seven.

04:03So it doesn't look like the Slow Horses are slowing down anytime soon.

04:06New episodes drop every Wednesday on Apple TV+, with each one ending on a brutal cliffhanger.

04:11You won't be able to binge it, but that does mean that it's going to keep people talking

04:14until at least the end of October.

04:17If you're looking for something to tide you over in the six long days between episodes,

04:21here are two other shows that scratch the same itch.

04:24First up, Archer.

04:25If you're into ragtag groups of incompetent spies, then this is one for you.

04:28The show follows Sterling Archer, a sexist, crass, super spy,

04:33basically James Bond with mummy issues.

04:35Jesus Christ.

04:36The character of Archer is voiced by H. John Benjamin,

04:39who you might recognize from Bob's Burgers.

04:41Bob is like this, and Archer is like this.

04:44I'll admit that I didn't instantly warm to this show.

04:46I thought the animation was absolutely stunning,

04:48but I wasn't immediately taken with the characters.

04:51So the stakes felt low, and some of the jokes fell a bit flat as a result,

04:55but the writing is razor sharp and wildly funny.

04:58All 14 seasons are available to watch on Netflix,

05:01and at just 20 minutes an episode,

05:03it's a fun and easy watch till your next Slow Horses fix.

05:06Oh, Pam's as full of crap as she is of carbohydrates.

05:09If it's the sharp, cutting humor of Slow Horses that really hooks you,

05:13then go straight to the source, the thick of it.

05:15It's a biting political satire,

05:16with genuinely some of the most poetic swearing in the history of TV.

05:20This is the show shack redemption, right?

05:22But with more tunneling through s***, no f***ing redemption.

05:24This was created by Armando Iannucci,

05:27who went on to give us Veep and The Death of Stalin,

05:29two other razor sharp satires about the inner workings of politics and power,

05:33which if you haven't seen already, then please go and do that next.

05:36Also on the writing team was Jesse Armstrong,

05:38who went on to create Succession,

05:40aka the best TV show just ever in the history of all TV ever.

05:45Yes, I will die on that hill.

05:47What are your initial thoughts on Slow Horses Season 5?

05:50Is it as good as Seasons 1 to 4?

05:51What are your predictions for how you think the rest of the series might go?

05:54Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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