The Apple TV Plus series Slow Horses isn’t your run-of-the-mill spy thriller. Picture this: Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, a washed-up MI5 agent exiled to Slough House, the agency’s equivalent of bureaucratic purgatory. As the reluctant overlord of Slough House, Jackson’s mission is to bore and irritate the misfit agents sentenced there, hoping they’ll throw in the towel.
But when Slough House gets roped into a high-stakes case, these “slow horses” are thrust into the limelight. Curious if Slow Horses is based on a true story? Buckle up, because we’ve got the scoop.
Is ‘Slow Horses’ based on a true story?
Slow Horses is an adaptation of the novel by crime writer Mick Herron, marking the first entry in a series of spy thrillers centered around Slough House and its head, Jackson Lamb. With Jackson’s gruff, jaded personality leaping off the page, many readers wonder if Slow Horses is based on a true story or inspired by a real person.
In a 2016 interview with The Guardian, Mick revealed that Jackson Lamb was inspired by another crime fiction character: Andy Dalziel from Reginald Hill’s series. Mick praised Reginald’s creation, saying, “Andy – whose gargantuan appetites allowed him to swallow whole every scene in which he appears – is crime fiction’s Falstaff, a glorious Rabelaisian monster.”
As for his own character, Mick explained that Jackson Lamb doesn’t have a fully fleshed-out backstory: “[Jackson] Lamb is the tent pole figure, the one keeping everything else up, and doesn’t appear to need a backstory; just snippets here and there that hint at the messy compromises and bleak insecurities of an undercover agent’s life.”
Interestingly, the plot of Slow Horses almost took a different turn. Mick recalled, “When I was dreaming up Slow Horses, I had a vague idea that its ending would involve [Jackson] on the lam: there’d be a final scene with him leaning against the railing of a Europe-bound ferry, watching England disappear in the dark.” Although this didn’t happen, Mick hinted that it might someday, with Jackson vanishing into a new role, completely undercover.
So, while Slow Horses is pure fiction, it’s a thrilling ride that keeps fans coming back for more.
Slow Horses is available for streaming on Apple TV Plus.