‘Slow Horses’: Gary Oldman and his spies at Slough House tease Season 3 as Apple TV+ drama series begins production for Season 4 – Watch

DEVASTATION WARNING: This story contains major plot points from Season 2 of slow horses.

Gary Oldman, star of the Apple TV+ spy drama series slow horsesEnjoy the freedom to play the “knowingly annoying” spy Jackson Lamb, despite being out of kung pao chicken for now.

Oldman’s Lamb is the boss of Slough House, a branch of MI5 spies they join after screwing up at The Park. He is surrounded by the likes of Saskia Reeves’ Catherine Standish, Jack Lowden’s River Cartwright, Rosalind Eleazar’s Louisa Guy, Dustin Demri-Burns’ Min Harper and Christopher Chung’s Roddy Ho.

The cast, which launched Season 2 on the streamer in December, now also includes Kadiff Kirwan’s Marcus Longridge and Aimee-Ffion Edwards’ Shirley Dander. Season 3, which has been taped, also joins Sean Donovan from បៃpẹ Dịrìsù.

During an FYC panel hosted by Deadline, the cast teased a bit about Season 3, which is based on Mick Herrons Real tigers and see how the group teams up to stop a rogue agent when one of their own is kidnapped.

With conspiracy theories and new characters, the Slough House team must break into MI5 HQ while also dealing with the Secret Service.

Oldman said Diana Taverner, aka Lady Di, MI5 deputy director general and chief of operations, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, “really comes into play” in season 3.

Reeves added that there is more action. “There is a lot of fear, fear, persecution, persecution,” she said.

Chungs Ho, a nasty computer hacker, has dyed her hair blonde, as has Eleazar’s Guy, who is dealing with the loss of her friend Min, played by Demri-Burns, who dies in Season 2. Chung says they are “peacocks” in an attempt to win her love.

“Ho likes Louisa in Season 3, and Louisa goes a little crazy trying to shed her old identity, so she dyed her hair blonde and then you try to copy me, but you’re kind of orange,” Eleazar added.

However, Oldman warns that viewers should not expect any character development from Jackson Lamb. “Mick Herron said the storyline is secondary, it’s about the characters and how we connect with them. Yes, there is a story and a plot, but with each season we get a glimpse of a character and we learn a little more about them [them],” he added.

Lam is an intriguing character; a much better spy than you might expect, and despite his constant disdain for his employees, he is a loyal man.

“It’s great to have such freedom to be so nauseous. When I get the script and there’s a line that’s upset or offended, I can’t wait to see their faces. He is deliberately awkward, he constantly puts people on edge. He gives the impression that he doesn’t care, and I think he probably cares the most. He is very, very loyal. Even if he thinks they’re losers,” Oldman said.

slow horses highlights some of the common and unusual eating habits of spies in a way that other spy books and series do not.

For example, lamb is a big fan of a bowl of pasta. “We shot it in the morning. Because we had corners coming in and then where you could see me eating and I think I ate 17 bowls of pasta from across the room and then we stopped for lunch,” he joked. “I haven’t been near a noodle in a long time.”

“I think that’s why the books were so successful. I think hopefully that’s why the show works. You don’t see James Bond going to the toilet and Miss Moneypenny not picking up her laundry or going to the laundromat,” he added.

Standish is the Bureau Chief and has been with MI5 for a long time, and Reeves said Standish is grateful to have a job, especially as a recovering alcoholic. “She has a lot to endure, but she can do her best and she’s probably the best spy of them all. But she’s just a secretary,’ she added.

Longridge comes to Slough House in Season 2, ostensibly because of his gambling addiction. Kirwan said: “It’s like going to school in the middle of the semester and everyone has already started and made friends, but to be honest it was very easy. I was welcomed with open arms.”

Min’s death at the hands of the Russians is a major plot point in Season 2, and Demri-Burns says despite the murder, it’s nice to have a role with such an impact. “He’s smart and he’s doing well, but he just doesn’t have the skills,” he added. “I think he’s pretty useless.”

His death affects Louisa, who returns to work to thwart the Russian conspiracy.

“It all happens so quickly in the course of two days that she has no time to grieve. She goes right back to work. I’m sure we’ve all lost someone in our lives and grief works in a very strange way. She just doesn’t have time to process it, so her energy shifts a bit to fighting and finding out why the Russians killed him. It’s going through … we can’t say too much about next season, but sometimes when a life event like this happens to you, it can really change your being,” Eleazar added.

Apple has given the series a double extension: Season 3 has been filmed and Season 4 begins filming next week.

“We are busy filming Season 4 and if you think so [Jackson Lamb] it’s windy now…” jokes Oldman.

The series is produced by See-Saw Films for Apple TV+ and directed by Will Smith (sweep). Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Douglas Urbanski, Gail Mutrux, Will Smith, Jane Robertson and Graham Yost serve as executive producers.