Season 1

**Season 1** of the Apple TV+ series *Slow Horses* which premiered on April 1, 2022 with two episodes. It is also subtitled Slow Hoarses after the first book of the same name.

## Synopsis

After a botched and publicly embarrassing training mission, British MI5 officer River Cartwright is exiled to Slough House, an administrative purgatory for service rejects. Known as "Slow Horses", Cartwright and his colleagues must endure dull, paper pushing tasks and their miserable boss, Jackson Lamb, who expects them to quit out of boredom and frustration. Life in Slough House is defined by drudgery, until the Slow Horses become entangled in a dangerous gambit by "The Park" (the name by which the fictional headquarters of MI5 is known, derived from its location at Regent's Park)

## Cast and characters

### Main:

* Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb
* Jack Lowden as River Cartwright
* Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner

### Slough House:

* Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish
* Olivia Cooke as Sidonie “Sid” Baker
* Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy
* Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho
* Steven Waddington as Jed Moody
* Dustin Demri-Burns as Min Harper
* Paul Higgins as Struan Loy

### Sons of Albion:

* Sam Hazeldine as Moe/Alan Black
* David Walmsley as Larry
* Stephen Walters as Zeppo
* Brian Vernel as Curly

### Civilians:

* Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright
* Antonio Aakeel as Hassan Ahmed
* Samuel West as Peter Judd
* Paul Hilton as Robert Hobden

### MI5 Headquarters:

* Freddie Fox as James “Spider” Webb
* Chris Reilly as Nick Duffy
* Sophie Okonedo as Ingrid Tearney
* Joey Ansah as Agent Pierce
* Bally Gill as Agent Singh

## Production

The series was given a straight to series order by Apple TV+ in October 2019, with Gary Oldman announced to star. The cast was rounded out in December 2020 with the additions of Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden. Initially the series was to consist of two seasons, but two additional seasons have since been ordered.

Filming began on 30 November 2020, in England, and continued into February 2021, with Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas spotted on set in Westminster, London. In July 2021, filming continued in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

It was originally intended to film earlier in 2020 but was delayed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the release date was announced in February 2022, it was also revealed that the first season would consist of 6 episodes, and that they would all be directed by James Hawes.

On April 22, 2022, around the time Season 1 premiered, James Hawes was interviewed, and he several caveats of information. Among them was revealing how he was "approached with the set of scripts and I tend to start by going to the scripts. I'll be perfectly honest I hadn't read Mick’s books ahead of time. Sew-Saw (Films, the production company) got in touch with me. I was one of the few directors who were sent the scripts for a response to the material. See if it struck a chord with me, something that I felt I could get excited by and bring to life and I surely did. A few meetings later, I was on".

Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed back-to-back.

Slow Horses is the first Apple TV+ Plus offering to be nominated for an award from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain (i.e. WGGB.). The award, for the show's first episode of its very first season called Failure's Contagious," has been nominated under the Best Long Form TV Drama category.

## Music

The title track "Strange Game" was performed by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who wrote the song exclusively for the show together with the show’s composer Daniel Pemberton.

## Gallery

### Promotional Images

Season 1 PosterSeason 1 BannerSeries Logo

### Videos

Slow Horses — Official Sneak Peek - Apple TV+Slow Horses — Official Trailer - Apple TV+Slow Horses Series World PremiereSlow Horses — Gary Oldman & Kristin Scott Thomas- Legendary Forces - Apple TV+Slow Horses — An Inside Look - Apple TV+Slow Horses Season 1 Featurette - 'Gary Oldman & Kristin Scott Thomas- Legendary Forces' - RTTVSLOW HORSES - Behind The Scenes Talk With Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden & Oliva Cooke - Apple TV+The 'Slow Horses' Cast Brief Us on Who’s Least Likely to Join MI5 - PEOPLE Pop QuizKristin Scott Thomas on Slow Horses & What She Found Challenging About Making Her First SeriesChristopher Chung interview on Slow Horses – Apple TV+ seriesMick Jagger - Strange Game (Official Lyric Video)
## Trivia

* The first season is based on *Slow Horses (Book)*, the first of the "Slough House" series of novels by Mick Herron.
* Jack Lowden plays an English MI5 officer in the hit spy series... and most viewers will have no idea he is a proud Scot from the Borders.

## References

1. ↑ Trailer for new Apple Original espionage drama “Slow Horses,” starring Academy Award winner Gary Oldman, debuts ahead of global premiere on April 1, 2022 - Apple.com
2. ↑ Gary Oldman To Star In Spy Drama ‘Slow Horses’ For Apple With ‘Justified’s Graham Yost Exec Producing - Deadline
3. ↑ ‘Slow Horses’ Renewed Through Season 4 at Apple TV+ - Hollywood Reporter
4. ↑ U.K. What’s Filming: ‘The Essex Serpent’ + ‘Slow Horses’ - Backstage
5. ↑ A & A Taxis and Cafe Max used as the backdrop for Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas spy drama - Stroud Times
6. ↑ Apple Restarts UK Drama Production, As ‘Suspicion’ & ‘Slow Horses’ Prepare To Shoot - Deadline
7. ↑ ‘Slow Horses’ Starring Gary Oldman & ‘Roar’ Anthology Series Get Premiere Dates On Apple TV+ - Deadline
8. ↑ Slow Horses Director James Hawes - 'I said, well, what about Jagger?' - Screen times
9. ↑ Gary Oldman on Slow Horses as series two comes to screens on Apple TV+ - Yorkshire Post
10. ↑ Slow Horses earns Apple TV Plus its first UK Writers' Guild award nomination - iMore
11. ↑ Mick Jagger’s ‘Slow Horses’ Theme Song ‘Strange Game’ Released - Film Music Reporter
12. ↑ Apple’s ‘Slow Horses’ Adds Olivia Cooke & Jonathan Pryce, As Producer See-Saw Shoots Two Stories Back-To-Back - Deadline
13. ↑ Slow Horses star Jack Lowden on how he gets frustrated at having to speak in an English accent - Scottish Daily Express