Slow Horses

Gary Oldman has already proved himself as a master in the political and espionage thriller sub-genres, with his powerful performance in the Oscar-winning "The Darkest Hour (2017)" as well as the more understated by equally effective "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)". He has portrayed gravitas, charisma, calm under pressure as well as steadfast efficiency very well on screen but Apple TV+'s new offering showcases an altogether different dimension to the British veteran, one laced with dry British wit and wry humour while never letting up on the espionage thrill elements.

We follow the story of MI5 agent "Jackson Lamb" (Oldman) who runs a sub-group within the intelligence agency dubbed the "Slow Horses" since it is primarily composed of disgraced, underperforming has-beens who no one else seems to want. Lamb seems perfectly happy running routine operations and surveillance gigs when his team gets inadvertently embroiled in a kidnapping of a Muslim youngster, presumably executed by right-wing fundamentalists.

Featuring Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Jack Lowden and a host of fine British actors, Slow Horses takes care to paint vivid character sketches of its motley crew of temperamental agents, all with a point to prove given their sordid pasts. Director James Hawes builds his narrative slowly but self-assuredly across six wholesome episodes, which are full of unexpected twists and turns as the stakes get progressively higher and the conspiracy, more convoluted as the team tracks down one lead after another.

Oldman is in blistering form as the caustic, trash-talking spymaster who seems to use mockery and disdain as weapons to get his team to perform and the supporting cast play an able foil to the old master, creating a vivid world that intrigues as well as makes you chuckle at the most unexpected junctures. The writing from Morwenna Banks; Will Smith; Jonny Stockwood; Mark Denton deserve special praise for striking the right balance between character development, suspense, unexpected twists and humour. Apple TV+ has another winner on its hands, with "Slow Horses", alongside "Severance" clearly emerging as one of the Best new series of 2022. Highly recommended and I cannot wait for Season 2!

Ignore most of the reviews here; either they didn't actually watch it long enough to understand what was going on or they were not bright enough.

If you liked the books you'll probably enjoy it even though the characters were not quite as I imagined them.

This is not a series to watch if you want a lot of action (The first episode may be misleading).

This is not a series to watch if you want a handsome hero to ride of into the sunset with the girl (swap genders to whatever rocks your boat).

This is a series to watch if you want geat characters and story.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy Slow Horses as much as I did. I was looking for a new show to watch to heard really good things about this show and you can't go wrong with Gary Oldman either. He's great in just about everything he's ever been in. It's no different here. He's the best thing about the show but not the only thing. The rest of the cast more than holds their own. I got so into this that I binged both seasons in just few days. It seems that most people enjoyed as much as I did because it's already been renewed for another two seasons! I can't wait to see more of this group of dysfunctional MI5 agents!

I watched this because I'd been watching foreign series and was tired of subtitles. So glad I did!

Great cast of true characters - Gary Oldman - you can't go wrong with him. And same with all the rest. Finally a series that isn't polished and pretty, but it has a lot of grit and history.

Binged all of Season 1 in one evening. Am anxious for Season 2.

Something interesting to look forward to!!

I have seen the first two episodes, and was disappointed only by the fact there will be only six, and then another six. Cast is fantastic, and though the dialog requires higher volume for these American ears, it is well written. I usually wouldn't watch the screen version of a book I might like to read, but I wanted to see this as soon as it came out, and didn't know if the books. I'll definitely read them later though. The theme song. As soon as I heard it, I thought, "Surely they didn't get Mick Jagger"?! But it is, and the song is cool, with relevant lyrics and thematic elements of the score too. I see several reviews complaining about a 'leftist' bent to this one, but all I see is art imitating life with some of the plot lines. I recommend this one, unless you don't like elevated espionage fare. It's good, real good based on the first two hours.