Posted in: Apple, TV | Tagged: apple tv, bleeding cool, cable, gary oldman, Jack Lowden, Jackson Lamb, jonathan pryce, kristin scott thomas, Mick Herron, olivia cooke, Slow Horses, spy fiction, streaming, television, tv

Slow Horses: Jonathan Pryce, Olivia Cooke Join Apple TV+ Spy Series

Slow Horses, Apple TV+'s adaptation of the Mick Herron spy novels, has added Olivia Cooke and Jonathan Pryce to a star-studded cast that already includes Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Jack Lowden. The See-Saw Films production is currently shooting in the UK following a delay due to the coronavirus production shutdown. Deadline Hollywood reports both 6-episode seasons are being shot back-to-back to get as much of the show in the can as possible Seasoned director James Hawes is currently directing the first six-episode season while a director is being sought for the second.

Slow Horses: A Series about Screw-up Spies

Oldman plays the brilliant but irascible and slovenly Jackson Lamb, the head of MI5's Slough House, an office that's considered a dumping ground for spies who have screwed up but are considered too risky to fire. The spies under Lamb's command are dangerous burnouts and screwups desperate to get out of Slough House and back in the main action of important missions and often stumble upon something major that the big boys at main HQ miss. Thomas plays Diana Taverner, a high-ranking officer who now runs MI5 as her personal domain, and her ambition and lust for power put her at odds with Oldman's Lamb. Lowden plays River Cartwright, a talented agent relegated to Slough House for a mistake on a mission who's especially desperate to claw his way out of there.

Pryce will play David Cartwright, River's grandfather and a retired agent who knows where a lot of bodies are buried. Cooke will play Sid Baker, a sharp agent, and River's officemate. Her being at Slough House is a mystery as she's as good and hungry as they come. The up-and-coming Cooke is getting a lot of work now, having been cast last week as a lead in HBO's Game Of Thrones prequel House Of Dragon. It looks like season one will an adaptation of Slow Horses, the first book in the series. If you've read it, you probably have a good idea of the plot and what happens to some of the characters. No one is safe. Further casting is not confirmed for the second season, though Oldman will probably return since Lamb is the central character in Herron's series (which spans seven books- including the upcoming entry Slough House).

Slow Horses is adapted by Will Smith, who executive produces with Graham Yost (who previously ran FX's Justified), Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gail Mutrux, and Douglas Urbanski. The series was commissioned for Apple TV+ by Jay Hunt, Apple's creative director for Europe worldwide video, alongside heads of worldwide video, Zack Van Amburg, and Jamie Erlicht.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!