Slow Horses Season 5 Gets Filming Update & Intriguing Lamb Tease From Gary Oldman: “There’s Another Layer”

Slow Horses season 5 gets an intriguing preview from star Gary Oldman ahead of the debut of new episodes on Apple TV+. The spy thriller, which is based on Mick Herron’s Slough House novels, will return in September for its fourth installment. Adapting Herron’s Spook Street book, Slow Horses season 4 will open with a bombing that exposes secrets and threatens the already shaky foundation the characters stand on. But as one of Apple’s most successful series, the thriller received an early renewal for season 5.

In comments to Deadline, ahead of the debut of season 4 on September 4, Oldman offered a preview of what to expect from his character Jackson Lamb and teased that the show’s fourth outing would reveal more about the taciturn protagonist. Oldman, who is nominated for an Emmy for his performance as Lamb, also revealed that filming on season 5 is complete. Read the full quote below:

“We’ve had a Christmas break. You’ll notice there’s bits of tinsel that are hanging … and then there’s a dried-up Christmas tree. They’ve made half an effort to take them down. And Lamb has been on a bender. So that’s when you first meet me. I’ve probably had three days on the booze. Christmas drinks alone, more than likely in my house. And you just see a glimpse of where I live. But that’s the first time we see that, where you actually see Lamb outside of Slough House. And there’s lots good stuff coming up.”

“We’ve just finished filming Season 5 and there’s another layer of the onion that is peeled back with Lamb. You find out a little bit more about what went on and then that’s information that you can then think, ‘Oh, that would explain that.’ Or, ‘This is why he’s like he is.’ But honestly and truly, you go to Mick Herron and I don’t quite know if I’d really believe him, but you go to Mick Herron and you say, ‘Tell me a little bit about Lamb.’ And he goes, ‘I don’t really know.’ He said, ‘If I haven’t written it, then I don’t know.’”

Slow Horses Season 5 Is Adaptating London Rules

There Are Nine Novels Overall To Adapt

With season 4 based on London Rules and without spoiling too much, it’s confirmed that Lamb will lose one of his team members, but it remains unknown who it will be. Still, based on a summary of London Rules from Penguin Random House, bombing attacks will also be one of the show’s focuses moving forward. Read the novel’s full summary below:

At MI5 headquarters Regent’s Park, First Desk Claude Whelan is learning the ropes the hard way. Tasked with protecting a beleaguered prime minister, he’s facing attack from all directions: from the showboating MP who orchestrated the Brexit vote, and now has his sights set on Number Ten; from the showboat’s wife, a tabloid columnist, who’s crucifying Whelan in print; from the PM’s favorite Muslim, who’s about to be elected mayor of the West Midlands, despite the dark secret he’s hiding; and especially from his own deputy, Lady Di Taverner, who’s alert for Claude’s every stumble. Meanwhile, the country’s being rocked by an apparently random string of terror attacks.

Over at Slough House, the MI5 satellite office for outcast and demoted spies, the agents are struggling with personal problems: repressed grief, various addictions, retail paralysis, and the nagging suspicion that their newest colleague is a psychopath. Plus someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho. But collectively, they’re about to rediscover their greatest strength—that of making a bad situation much, much worse.

Beyond the nine Slough House novels, the author has also penned four Slow Horses novellas. Herron also has four books that take place in the same universe and feature some of the same characters as the Slough House books. In terms of whether these will all be adapted by Apple TV+, showrunner Will Smith mentioned that the answer depends on what Apple TV+ decides to do. Smith struck a measured tone overall, mentioning the possibility of a Slow Horses movie.

On the other hand, Oldman mentioned earlier this year that he would enjoy playing Jackson Lamb for as long as he’s asked to do so. Considering that Apple has touted the success of the spy dramedy, with the show now breaking into Emmys contention, it may be the case that the Slow Horses cast will be around for at least a few more seasons.

Source: Deadline, Penguin Random House