Season 1 is 6 episodes and season 2 is the same, Gary Oldman said that they've already filmed season 2 "it's in the can". "Slow Horses" is the beginning of the the Mick Herron's "Slough House" novels. Sir Mick Jagger helped write the theme song which he sings.
It reminds me a lot of the John le Carre novels, le Carre (pen name of David Cornwell) actually worked for MI-5 and MI-6. MI-5 (the Security Service) is a domestic spy agency, but they have no police powers like America's FBI. This series is about MI-5 like the older TV series "Spooks". MI-6 (the Secret Intelligence Service) is foreign intelligence which was the subject of le Carre's novels about George Smiley.
Two of le Carre's novels were made into TV series, the first "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" the 1979 TV series was about a mole in MI-6, it's a classic that starred Sir Alec Guinness. The 2011 movie of the same name starring Gary Oldman is good, but the TV series has more depth. It introduced us to "Moscow Rules" (not the same definition as this series) and "outstations" around London like Slough House in this series. "Smiley's People" a TV series also starring Sir Alec Guinness is also a classic.
Writers of novels and screenplays take artistic license and I doubt the real MI-5 looks like this shoot'em up series. They are spies in the shadows, operations performed by the "dogs" would be performed by SO-15 the Counterterrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard). I read a lot of British news and I've never heard a counterterrorism action referred to as an "MI-5 operation" or the Director General of MI-5 referred to in the media as "First Desk", bad writing,
Episode 6 didn't really tie everything together, it got the bums rush. Gary Oldman is great as Jackson Lamb, he wasn't really George Smiley as Alec Guinness had that sewed up. Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Kristin Scott Thomas and the rest of the cast are very good, mostly drama school trained. Hope they continue with the rest of the Slough House books, it's entertaining if not all that realistic.
Season 2 I enjoyed much more than the first season. Season 1 was mostly about Jackson Lamb verbally putting down staff at Slough House, it was one put down after another and it got boring. The second season shows MI-5 agents at Slough House using their spy skills but not really in a coordinated way.
Lamb is a brilliant field agent, he's not really a manager of people. David Cartwright is a natural trainer, instructing his grandson (River) and giving him background information like their conversations about Dickie Bough and "circadas" and conversations in the first season.
All the characters are flawed and it's not just at Slough House, from Tavener to Webb to Duffy they are also flawed at the Park. Herron and the screen writers aren't afraid of killing off characters which is good. The second season is funnier and gets out of London to the Cotswolds and eventually Kent. London and the locations in season 1 were cold and boring, packed with people but really very cold.
I'm looking forward to seasons 3 & 4 in 2023.
It reminds me a lot of the John le Carre novels, le Carre (pen name of David Cornwell) actually worked for MI-5 and MI-6. MI-5 (the Security Service) is a domestic spy agency, but they have no police powers like America's FBI. This series is about MI-5 like the older TV series "Spooks". MI-6 (the Secret Intelligence Service) is foreign intelligence which was the subject of le Carre's novels about George Smiley.
Two of le Carre's novels were made into TV series, the first "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" the 1979 TV series was about a mole in MI-6, it's a classic that starred Sir Alec Guinness. The 2011 movie of the same name starring Gary Oldman is good, but the TV series has more depth. It introduced us to "Moscow Rules" (not the same definition as this series) and "outstations" around London like Slough House in this series. "Smiley's People" a TV series also starring Sir Alec Guinness is also a classic.
Writers of novels and screenplays take artistic license and I doubt the real MI-5 looks like this shoot'em up series. They are spies in the shadows, operations performed by the "dogs" would be performed by SO-15 the Counterterrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard). I read a lot of British news and I've never heard a counterterrorism action referred to as an "MI-5 operation" or the Director General of MI-5 referred to in the media as "First Desk", bad writing,
Episode 6 didn't really tie everything together, it got the bums rush. Gary Oldman is great as Jackson Lamb, he wasn't really George Smiley as Alec Guinness had that sewed up. Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Kristin Scott Thomas and the rest of the cast are very good, mostly drama school trained. Hope they continue with the rest of the Slough House books, it's entertaining if not all that realistic.
Season 2 I enjoyed much more than the first season. Season 1 was mostly about Jackson Lamb verbally putting down staff at Slough House, it was one put down after another and it got boring. The second season shows MI-5 agents at Slough House using their spy skills but not really in a coordinated way.
Lamb is a brilliant field agent, he's not really a manager of people. David Cartwright is a natural trainer, instructing his grandson (River) and giving him background information like their conversations about Dickie Bough and "circadas" and conversations in the first season.
All the characters are flawed and it's not just at Slough House, from Tavener to Webb to Duffy they are also flawed at the Park. Herron and the screen writers aren't afraid of killing off characters which is good. The second season is funnier and gets out of London to the Cotswolds and eventually Kent. London and the locations in season 1 were cold and boring, packed with people but really very cold.
I'm looking forward to seasons 3 & 4 in 2023.