I never knew that until I read your comment.. and thought, oh! He does sound Scottish! Olivia Cooke sounds completely different in real life too. (Mancunian)
Having read all of Mick Herron’s books, I was dismayed when I heard that Oldman had been cast as Jackson Lamb, but now I can’t fathom anyone else in the role.
I was drawn to this show because Gary Oldman stars in it and I love everything he does. Now it’s become my favorite show - smart, very funny, and great writing.
@@bobburroughs6241 I have not read the books. It is much more difficult to accept an interpretation of a character if you have already been introduced to them - especially from reading the book first. There are many movies I will not watch from books that I have read. I see who the actor or actress is who is playing the part - and then, usually, refrain from watching. I simply cannot imagine them as the person ( fictional ) I see in my imagination. One exception was Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. He was absolutely terrifying. He brought Heathcliff to life, in my opinion. And then to see him interviewed later - a somewhat gentle and shy person - that was something else!! However, I have found the reverse if I see a movie and then read the book. It’s almost as if 3/4 of the book was missing in the movie. So that’s always a treat!!
This is probably my favorite show on the air right now. I've already watched all the seasons 3 or 4 times while waiting for the next season simply because I want MORE of it. The show can rip your heart out and stomp on it when one of the characters is killed. Sometimes you see it coming, and dread it. Other times it happens without any warning at all in an instant. And it hurts. These are characters you've gotten to know and despite their flaws you still care about them, and suddenly they're just... gone. The plots are believable enough to really draw you in and the twists make sense. But probably the most important ingredient in the show is Gary's character. "Lamb" is the hub of the show around which all the other spokes revolve, and he's unlike any other character in any spy thriller. Right from the start he's introduced as an intolerable SLOB. Personal Hygiene is something he stubbornly avoids. He stinks. His clothes go unwashed for God only knows how long. He doesn't wash or bath. He seems to enjoy sickening others with his flatulence. He's just a disgusting human being that delights at being as insulting as he is disgusting. And at first his ONLY redeeming feature is the quick wit he posses that hints at one VERY sharp mind. (Frankly speaking I don't care if those insults come off the page, or are simply popping out of Gary's fertile mind, it doesn't matter because they're consistently BRILLIANT and definitely a good part of what makes this show so good.) "Talking to you people is like trying to explain Norway to a dog." But as hints as to his past are occasionally revealed you start to understand WHY he is the way he is now. Although he survived the cold war, and the fall of the Soviet Union, to a large extent he's a broken man. A man who's seen people he respected killed in the line of duty regardless of how competent or careful they may have been. He really does know that most of his "rejects" have little to no chance at all of surviving in the cruel and brutal world they inhabit. And he does his very best to protect them and keep them alive. "They may be losers, but they're MY LOSERS." This show is a keeper. I've already purchased ever season so far released. It's well constructed, well written, immaculately filmed, and has a BRILLIANT CAST. Here's hoping for many more seasons to follow.
The books are fantastic. It never occurred to me how much comedic potential there was in LeCarre's settings & characters until I read the Slow Horses series.
Gary Oldman is BRILLIANT!! The reason I started watching slow horses is actually Rade Šerbedžija (who I adore!)! In one interview he said that Gary is by far the best actor he worked with! He was super impressed! I had to see it! 🤩😍
Definitely. He could easily have a 20 year run at Bond if he wanted to. I think Gary Oldman would have been cool to see as Bond thirty years ago. I love Pierce Brosnan, but I wonder how different those films would be if Gary played the character instead.
As long as he stuck to the English accent he’s learned. Looking back, Sean Connery was a bit of a joke due to the fact that in his entire acting career, regardless of whether he played an Englishman, a Russian, or an American, he would *always* be a Scottish Englishman, or a Scottish Russian. The fact he was a good actor meant that he wasn’t derided for it. Anybody these days who has big acting roles would never be accepted for being unable to shake off their original accent. Gary Oldman would have been a good Bond if he had been asked to do it in the 1980’s instead of Timothy Dalton (who was the most Yorkshire-sounding secret agent ever, even more so than Sean Bean playing former 00 agent Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye!) However, Gary Oldman could still play a great Bond villain even now. Great Bond villains are almost as important as a good Bond as the story can be rather bland unless Bond is pitted against a great adversary.
@@nathannicholson2933 It would have ruined gary oldman. he was fine where he was. from Leon to Dracula etc. to Slow Horses he shines. He's got this stage feeling wherever he goes. I can't stand Brosnan or Timothy Dalton. Might as well be James Smith of Johnnny English
@@auntisthenes2754Totally agree with you. I also feel the same way about Jack doing Bond. He’s a fine young actor and I think Bond would limit his versatility.
Also loved Gary Oldman as George Smiley, cleancut, cerebral spy in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,' based on John le Carré's novel of the same name. He goes from the perfect spy to this role which is perfect in a down-to-earth, believable way. I love both.
So eager to see this. Gary gave me a shock, announcing his retirement early this month. Can't help but see a parallel/metaphor with his own career. Never say never. Such a unique dedication to his craft. Cheers, Gary! Peace from Dallas. JF
retiring from this show. from american crap, perhaps; give him a good opportunity on stage or on screen..he looks fit enough to do whatever he pleases whenever he pleases for 20 years. looks aren't everything but the young BlackPanther was a goner before the studios knew he was sick. old timers tend to linger and age like good wine.
DO. WATCH. SLOW HORSES ! it's addictive in the best ways. All comic and stumblebum on the surface, but all subtle and clever and tempered steel underneath. Jack Lowden. Totally PERFECT ad the new James Bond . Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig all rolled into one. So pleased there,s now a season 3 to watch.
I was thinking „Is that Mick Jagger ? Nah, cant be. … but it sounds like him. Did they really get Mick Jagger to do the theme song. Nah, it s probably a remix or somebody mimicking him“ That kinda the cherry on top to give this series that little bit of extra importance that it deserves. Nice one. Really feeling Slow Horses so far …
Slow Horses is a great show in the Tinker, Taylor grimy style of spy stories. One of the best things on streaming at the moment. Good to find out how Jagger did the theme song.
Omg I love this show!!!! I wonder if it’s more George Smiley than James Bond, they’ve mentioned Smiley and Moscow Centre, I wonder if it’s in the same universe.
Damn, off topic here but for some reason I liked hearing that Gary approves of Daniel Craig's portrayal of Bond. I think when Casino Royale came out many of us were not sold on Craig then when you see the film you warm up to him pretty quick. For me Craig is up there with Connery and Dalton.
Yanks won’t get “Slow Horses” which is ironic since they funded and produced it. You see, we Brits have ACTUALLY FUNNY comedy that isn’t talking down to us.
This is what the British do so well in drama, that can't -be-arsed incompetence that exists wherever anyone chases remnants of shattered dreams of glory. It's the offspring of Minder and Steptoe. It's so realistic. The books are brilliant.
A very un-American treat...till now. Archetypes anyone? They are part of the deep, unspoken power of these novels. Lady Di (Taverner) is the flip-side of the original Lady Di. The former is calculating, cold-blooded and unscrupulous, where the former was spontaneous, sensitive and vulnerable. Lamb, on the other hand, is a part of ourselves we are longing to let loose on the world: apparently chaotic, blind, unthinking and invulnerable, he's our Dyonisian side, as is Shirley (only as she appears in the books, though, not in the show, unfortunately). We are sandwiched between our Di(e) and Lamb sides, colliding and just longing to emerge. These characters give vent to it for all of us. So far, the series is incredibly good and remarkably true to the novels, even to the point of being filmed in the "actual" locale discovered by author Mick Herron, one of the few masters of this genre not really having lived as a spy himself (probably, possibly). Jackson Lamb is delicious and represents a side iof us all we would probably love to act out and even nurture. OK, I would, in any case. Gary Oldman is obviously enjoying himself as the man we all secretly hate to love. There are two casting or directorial mistakes here though: first, Roddy Ho is more of a nasty egomaniac and less of a goofy closet superhero (totally out of touch with reality) than he is in the books; secondly, the wonderfully explosively psychotic and sugar-bingeing Shirley Dander from the books is nowhere to be found in the lightweight underwhelming version of her character we are presented with onscreen. One word of caution: the final episode of Season Three also gets very violent, American-style, and we can only hope this does not bode badly for Season Four. Unfortunately, feedback from audiences who haven't read the novels and are addicted to computer-assisted superviolence in their movies may pressure the team into delivering a more violent and sensationalist version such as we are accustomed to in American films. Let's hope not.
Yes, TV Roddy is more dickish than novel Roddy ( I imagined his car being a Kia Soul 😅), but I think he's equally hilarious in a way that provides better motivation for how the others dump on him. Agreed about Shirley. Very underwhelming. I imagined her being a short, squat little mouth-breather who couldn't cope with her own frustration at not being good enough. Reading John LeCarré's books, I imagined George Smiley being equally short and squat (but not incompetent), not looking like Alec Guinness or Gary Oldman. On a more positive note, casting Jack Lowden as River Cartwright was perfect. He's just enough of a boy-band puppy dog to be a realistic spy candidate and James Bond Wannabe ("Bond Lite"), but not tough enough to actually be 007. As Jackson Lamb says, he's "Double Oh Three-and-a-Half." 😋 The TV show is based on the novels, which have both violence and tragedy. The series isn't a watered-down comedy, it has a deep streak of black realism that's a core part of it what it is.
Um, no. Not even remotely like James Bond. When an interview starts with a flub, and the interviewer is wearing a pot on his head, that’s enough for me. Kudos to the actors who have to put up with this.
Honestly....The ONLY role he can´t play very well, ist the role of Gary Oldman! It is amazing how symbiotic it works, when he has the chance to hide his face....behind silicon! But "being HIMSELF"... ...he is not really good at it!
@@user-ow2pk9io4b That's true...he IS a person! (..and also a very interesting one!) My point is...Gary Oldman, (and you can see it in EVERY interview he ever gave), for some reason always gives the impression, of "working hard" on how he wants to be seen by the audience! He is an actor...through and through...and it apears to me, he makes NO DIFFERENCES, between his job...and Gary Oldman! (It's all ONE)! And for a PERFECTIONIST, which he is, it's very obvious!!! He is a FABULOUS actor...and it's of corse NEVER my intention to "insult" him anyhow! And thanks for your response!
@@JohnDoe-vj2yy You’re welcome!! I think many actors tend to hide behind masks, even if they don’t intend to. Many are quite shy in real life, so even in an interview, they will tend to present themselves differently than they truly are. Do any of us show our true selves, on purpose or not? I think we all adapt to whatever situation we are in. No one can truly know what another person is thinking. Even the people closest to us. I am sure my husband has thoughts he would never share with me - I know I have the same. For whatever reason, we may choose to not share everything. And there is nothing wrong with that. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed “ Slow Horses “. 😊
Without any doubt, Slow Horses 'was' the only thing on TV worth watching, primarily because it does not have the obvious objective of simply being a vehicle to promote Woke. Yes it is played for laughs sometimes and no way would a person like Jackson Lamb be put in charge of an MI5 unit such as Slough House which is considered with such contempt by those at HQ. Also, it is for entertainment purposes so even once working as very lowly RAF SAC Photographer who came across service personnel and government intelligence people plus for the five years I was in the RAF I learnt, trained with and even taught such people doing course at RAF Brampton and Cosford - I am not expecting real world situations. BUT after watching the very last episode of Season 3, being unbelieving bad and so woke, pure fantasy and highly ridiculous shoot-out where a crew of rejects out shoot, out punch and kill a large number of about 15 MI5 'SAS' soldiers, who are even tougher, more skilled and deadly than normal SAS soldiers - was just BEYOND BELIEF. We had a 'little girl' take on and despatch in hand-to-hand combat and shooting hardened soldiers who I can assure you practise every day their skills to kill people as quickly as possible. The whole last 15 minutes was joust a farce and it was like watching a bunch of young men having ZERO military skills and experiences be put in such uniforms and given guns and told to go in and kill the Slow Horses team plus two other MI5 operatives. An absolute joke and totally ruined the immense enjoyment of having something at last on TV to watch and not have to 'tut' and say "here we go again' and switch off". I expect that when Slow Horse first came out, it slipped under the radar at APPLE Plus but not surprising being so good, got the viewing figures it deserved and then the 'big woke wigs' at Apple became interested and wanted to be involved, and thus is why we had the f****** crap the last episode of Season 3 gave us. I know there is a fourth season coming but just as with the very good American House of cards with Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood that when he was got rid of and Robin Wright took over, watched only ten minutes and turned off, I doubt I will watch the fourth season of Slow Horses.
You obviously haven’t read the books. Neither did you pay much attention watching the series. Black Arrow (Book name of the private firm Judd hired) operatives weren’t formal SAS, those were wannabe SASs who happened to have spent some time in the military (but probably didn’t see much action). Black Arrow just wasn’t the sort of place that attracts real soldiers. It gets contracts because founder Sly Monteith went to school with the right wing Home Secretary Peter Judd. Donovan on the other hand was an actual security service operative (he was a decorated solider in the book) while Cartwright went through proper special force level training before setup by Diana. Btw, Mick Herron hates Boris Johnson with a passion. He satirised Bojo with the Character Peter Judd. In later books, the Slow House universe also had a PM who went on holiday in Papa pig land and had his own version Dominic Cummings.
I'm very sorry for having to say this, and I really do - why is this grown man wearing a cap backwards and has a f'in nose piercing? That's the most unusual thing I've seen all day.
You're a grown man wearing a trucker hat and mirror shades like a teenager in 2007. You look like you go on rants about facebook about how everything is "woke" so you're in no position to comment buddy.
This man has classic arrested development issues.... pathetic interviewer Oldman manages to navigate the inappropriate comparison to J Bond Slow Horses is old school British espionage Drama with a brilliant script and great cast
I think it's the worst series I've seen! It's slow, long, the story is a little empty so we furnish with reliefless dialogues. So yes oldman and Thomas but it's not with names that we make quality. And I watch it for free fortunately
Again, like a classic British or American TV series. If Muslims are terrorists, the British are also heroes, you are very strong bravooo. Get to know the Muslims and then let them make a TV series.
@@franksound6922 I know well what I'm saying, mr smart, I couldn't watch the second episode, but I want to say that this way of thinking needs to be changed, ok?
@@mirilgarseyidovartist7092you understand nothing about the show, clearly haven’t watched it properly, and are stuck in some tiresome and rigid world-view.
