‘This has had real legs’: Gary Oldman returns to Slow Horses — one of Apple TV’s biggest hits

Sir Gary Oldman in Slow Horses. Apple TV.

Article content

Gary Oldman has played the irascible Jackson Lamb on Slow Horses for six seasons. Of course, when an actor spends that much time with a character, they come to develop an affinity for them.

Article content

Lamb, with his steely barbs and epithets, is someone who has endeared himself to TV fans. Despite his genuine unpleasantness, Oldman, 68, has warmed up to him as well.

Article content

Article content

“I like the fact that he’s a straight talker and he doesn’t really have a filter. I do enjoy people like that,” the Oscar winner says in a video call from London.

Article content

Article content

Could they be friends in real life? Oldman lets out a loud laugh. “I don’t know if I’d want to go to dinner with him once a week, but if he was at a dinner party and I happened to meet him, I would probably enjoy that. That would be an interesting evening,” he says, smiling.

Article content

Since its first season in 2022, Slow Horses has become one of Apple’s most beloved shows. Based on Mick Herron’s Slough House thriller novels, Oldman’s Lamb leads a bunch of MI-5 rejects who have been exiled to spy purgatory.

Article content

Lamb is unkempt and he wears ratty clothes. When he’s not curtly telling off his underlings, he’s smoking and drinking. Political correctness is a trait he does not possess. His voice mail greets callers with a blunt message: “This is Lamb. If I didn’t answer it’s because I don’t want to speak to you.”

Article content

“I wouldn’t really want to hang out with him. I’d like him to shower more and then maybe,” Oldman says, his voice trailing off.

Article content

Lamb is not the first spy he’s played — Oldman nabbed an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of John le Carré’s George Smiley in 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Article content

There are rules in the spy world — watch your back and cover your ass. Lamb lives by those in Herron’s world.

Article content

Article content

But in his own life, there are some rules Oldman goes by: honesty and loyalty.

Article content

“Always be honest and upfront. That’s something I instilled when my kids were younger,” the father of four says. “Loyalty is a big thing,” he continues. “I don’t have many friends, but the ones I do have, I’ve known for 40, 50 years.”

Article content

Season 6 finds Oldman going up against MI-5 boss Diana Taverner, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, when a rogue group of operatives starts targeting agents in Slough House.

Article content

Because Lamb has an unwavering loyalty to his team — which includes characters played by Jack Lowden, Christopher Chung, Rosalind Eleazar, Aimee Ffion-Edwards, Tom Brooke and Saskia Reeves — the threats they face cause him to work closely with his fellow agents to identify the peril they’re up against.

Article content

Article content

Jack Lowden and Sir Gary Oldman in Slow Horses. Apple TV.

Article content

Article content

But coming together like a family is something that is mirrored in his real life among his castmates.

Article content

“The actors and the crew and everybody we put together has become like a family. We’re all a little crazy, but as a whole we’re all one big happy family,” Oldman says.

Article content

To prove his point, Oldman made headlines when he publicly endorsed Lowden as the next James Bond.