A terrific spy series that is still (wrongly) flying under the radar in Germany has been renewed for season 5, which is good news not just for Gary Oldman fans
When you think of current agent series, Amazon’s Reacher or Netflix’s The Night Agent probably come to mind first. However, a fantastic secret service series that not everyone in this country has heard of has surpassed the action and thriller genre – because it has now been given its 5th season. We’re talking about Slow Horses – A Case for Jackson Lamb
Agent insider tip away from James Bond: Slow Horses celebrates 5 seasons
Slow Horses is a thriller series based on the award-winning Slough House spy novels by British author Mick Herron. They focus on various cases involving the down-and-out secret service agent Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), who heads a questionable department.
Disagreeable loser agents are deported to this department if they are guilty of something in the British secret service. After an embarrassing faux pas, River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), who would like to be a real James Bond but is quickly cut down to half his size by his new superior, also ends up here. According to Deadline he can continue to be made a slug in the now ordered 5th season.
Watch the trailer for season 1 of Slow Horses
Slow Horses captivates as an agent series with its mixture of wicked wit, suspense and the beating heart of its characters. Gary Oldman plays department head Jackson Lamb with relish as a shower-shy boss who is often mistaken for a homeless man. His employees fear him not only for his rants, but also for the dubious pleasure of constantly having to watch him eat unsightly meals.
As a discarded man who doesn’t care about recognition, but who secretly has a lot going for him as an agent, the chronically underestimated Lamb is nevertheless always an enrichment for MI5 and boss Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas). And with him also his outsider outpost “Slough House” – which sounds like “Slow Horses” and gives the series its title.
(Slow Horses)
The reason why the series Slow Horses is still unknown to many as a successful anti-James Bond in Germany, even after three seasons, is probably due to its streaming service: AppleTV+ is nowhere near as widespread in this country as Netflix. This is despite the fact that the constant release of real quality series regularly makes series fans happy here. Guest stars such as Jonathan Pryce, Olivia Cooke, Hugo Weaving and Katherine Waterston also show that the agent jewel has long had celebrity fans too.
Season 5 doesn’t have to be the end for the spy series Slow Horses
Slow Horses is producing its 6-episode seasons at record speed: Seasons 1 and 2 both arrived in 2022, Season 3 hit the screens at the end of 2023 and Season 4 has also long since been shot. If it continues at this pace, season 5 is not far off. And with 8 novels and 3 novellas currently part of the literary template, the material will certainly not run out any time soon. Gary Oldman revealed in the podcast Happy Sad Confused that he would love to continue with the series forever.
(Slow Horses Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb)
In season 5, the novel Spook Street is adapted into a movie, in which the Slow Horses’ tech nerd Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) gets himself a suspiciously glamorous new girlfriend, after which bizarre events occur throughout the city.
