With Killing Eve ending soon we’re all looking for that next big British espionage television show that will get our adrenaline high and keep us on the edge of our seats. Apple TV+ has just the show to satisfy this need.
Slow Horses
Slow Horses, a television show starring Academy Award winning and nominated actors (Gary Oldman and Kristen Scott Thomas, respectively) and Jack Lowden (Fighting with My Family) and Olivia Cooke (Sound of Metal), follows a group of MI5 agents who have been outcasted by the intelligence agency to spend the rest of their careers doing menial, tedious work as opposed to being out in the field seemingly doing more harm than good. But when something unexpected happens these downgraded agents have to risk their jobs and their lives for the truth. The series is based on a book series named after the building where the main characters work in “Slough House.”
NPR
John Powers, a critic for NPR (National Public Radio), reviewed this intense spy thriller for NPR’s podcast Fresh Air. Powers states that while the show doesn’t give viewers the same sense of the author’s (Mike Herron) witty dialogue and prose from the books, director (James Hawes) and writer (Will Smith) do honor the book series with respect to what Herron had in mind. The only negative critique Powers gave of the show was the choice to make Gary Oldman’s character, Jackson Lamb, a grumpy semi-functioning alcoholic who secretly cares about his employees and his work. Powers praises how both the books and the show integrate British culture and current events into the overall plot of the story. https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089680823/slow-horses-review-apple-tv
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes interviewed the cast for the top five things to expect from the series. The first point was that this role for Oldman is different from any of his previous roles like former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and acclaimed screenwriterHerman J. Mankiewicz. And while his character’s goal in the series is to break his employees until they quit he does, deep-down, care about his team. The second point turned to Scott Thomas’ character, defined as Jackson Lamb’s rival in MI5. Scott Thomas’ character, Diana Taverner, is the second highest ranking officer at MI5 and she despises the Slough House team but wouldn’t dare touch them because of the information that Lamb has on her. The third point is about how the show is written. The show mixes the thriller aspect of espionage with that classic British humor we all know and love.. The fourth point takes a look at the mundanity of being a spy. With any job there is some form of paperwork involved and working as an agent for a major intelligence agency is no exception, the Slough House team is an excellent example of that because they are constantly being given tedious work as opposed to going out into the field. The fifth and final point is about the overall story of the show: rooting for the underdogs. This team is made up of people who made mistakes in their careers and are cast aside rather than fired. They are the underdogs we root for every week to rise to the occasion, solve the case, and save the day. https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/slow-horses-cast-on-blending-quality-british-espionage-and-dark-comedy/
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