‘Slow Horses' EP Doug Urbanski on the secret to the show's success: ‘We try to make the perfect martini' and what's next in Season 5: ‘it's the most fun and most silly'
You practically need to keep a portable defibrillator next to your remote when you stream Slow Horses. The Apple TV+ series, has more twists, near deaths (and sometimes, actual deaths), and other heart-stopping moments within a single episode than other series do over the span of an entire season. But it's the everyday travails of its characters that keep them close to the audiences' heart, says star Gary Oldman.
'The appeal of the show is that we give you the world of espionage, but these are people you can relate to more than the tuxedo-clad James Bond,' Oldman told Gold Derby at an FYC event for Slow Horses at the Meryl Streep Center for Performing Arts at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation on Saturday.
More from GoldDerby
Pickleball, punchlines, and personal growth: 'Hacks' stars Megan Stalter and Paul W. Downs on their bond and what's next
'That feeling of having a first crush': How Zach Cherry and Merritt Wever made their 'Severance' marriage feel real
Joy and visibility take center stage at Critics Choice LGBTQ+ Cinema & TV celebration
'They've got their marriage problems, kid problems, they have to pay their mortgages, and go to the laundromat,' Oldman added. 'We see them do things that spies aren't normally seen doing.'
Based on the Slough House novels by Mick Herron, the series, which is headed into its fifth season later this year, tells the stories of a group of disgraced British agents who try to bring down terrorists and other evil-doers under the supervision of Jackson Lamb, played by Oldman, who was joined at the event by the show's executive producer, Doug Urbanski, and cast members Rosalind Eleazar (Louisa Guy), Jonathan Pryce (David Cartwright), and Saskia Reeves (Catherine Standish).
Speaking to the show's success, Goldman, a 2024 Primetime Emmy nominee Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his role, said, 'There's two criteria — the scripts, which are based on Mick Herron's novels, and the gang — the cast and the crew. To work with this group of people has been a highlight, really, of my career.'
Some of those everyday-people quirks on display include Lamb's notorious bodily functions like passing gas. 'Lamb uses the flatulence, the drinking, the smoking, the sort of gruffness, the sarcasm, the insults, the bullying — all of that — as somewhat spycraft,' Oldman said. 'He has gathered this persona to keep people at a distance. 'You're not going to get close to me. You're not going to second guess me.' But, because he really has no filter and doesn't abide to social norms, he doesn't care.'
Despite the life and death situations and the high stakes in the espionage world, Slow Horses manages to work in some comedic moments into the lives of the agents. In Season 4, we saw Louisa fall under the mistaken impression that River had romantic feelings for her. In reality, he was just trying to find a way to talk to her about his ailing grandfather, David.
'Every time I watch that scene, I'm like 'Oh, my God, Louisa! Look at you trying to think that!'' Eleazar said with a laugh. 'But I love their dynamic. Afterwards I thought, 'Huh. Is there something between them?' Maybe it's explored in later seasons? I don't know.'
An example of how the show keeps viewers guessing was in the first episode of Season 4, titled 'Identity Theft.' David shot an intruder whom the audience believed was his grandson. For most of the episode, nearly everyone believed that River was indeed dead only for it to be revealed that he was alive. David had shot a look-alike intruder, Bertrand Harkness (Jack Lowden), River's half-brother, who had murder on his mind.
'We try and have a cliffhanger, and two stories going on,' Urbanski said. 'We try to make the perfect martini and keep the formula going.'
'River's' death serves as a reminder that Slow Horses viewers should never believe anything until they see it with their own eyes. While Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan) died in the Season 4 finale, we didn't actually see his corpse on-screen, did we? Yes, the character dies in one of Herron's novels — but does that mean he's gone from the series?
'I don't believe we did see it,' Urbanski says about Marcus's corpse appearing on screen. 'That's a good question. No one comes back from the dead like a zombie [on Slow Horses], but I think one would be wise to question anything that is purported to be a death on the show. Sure.'
Urbanski calls Season 5 'the most fun and the most silly season' that's been done to date. 'We called Season 1 The Bourne Identity season,' Urbanski says. 'It had that sort of energy. Season 2 was more like [the movie] Tinker Tailor Solider Spy [which Urbanski executive produced]. That was about bad guy Russians trying to kill Papa Cartwright and Jackson. Season 3 was the sort of the 'Hitchcock' and 'MacGuffin' season. They were all looking for the file. Then, in Season 4, the bad guys wanted to kill Papa Cartwright and Lamb again.
'Season 5,' Urbanski continues, 'is centered around [Roddy] Ho [played by Christopher Chung], who is sort of our least serious character.' (Watch for Ho to get a girlfriend.)
'You're going to find a shifting of gears in terms of tone for the first two or three episodes, and then, the last three episodes are actually quite cinematic,' Urbanski adds. 'You have quite a bit of fun with the chase that ensues.'
Best of GoldDerby
Brandon Scott Jones on CBS' 'Ghosts': 'I enjoy playing characters that are desperate'
'She's got tunnel vision': Wendi McLendon-Covey reveals what she loves most about her character Joyce on 'St. Denis Medical'
Marlon Wayans on laughing through tragedy in 'Good Grief' and why social media has made comedy 'toxic'
Click here to read the full article.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Rachel Brosnahan to Follow Up Superman With Presumed Innocent Season 2 Lead
One month out from her debut as intrepid reporter Lois Lane in James Gunn's highly anticipated Superman movie, Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan has landed a lead role in Season 2 of Apple TV+'s Presumed Innocent. Brosnahan will also serve as an executive producer on Season 2, which is inspired by Dissection of a Murder, the debut legal thriller by Jo Murray (due in book stores July 2026). More from TVLine Jonathan Jackson's General Hospital Exit, Explained: 'The Hope Was to Stay On Longer' Apple Promo Teases New Invasion, Morning Show and Foundation Seasons - For All Mankind, Monarch Still MIA Casting News: GH Brings Back Kelly Thiebaud, Love Story Adds 3 and More Details around the plot are thus far being kept under wraps… unless, of course, you go to the Dissection of a Murder publisher's website. Apple TV+ renewed Presumed Innocent for a second season back in July 2024, weeks ahead of the Season 1 finale's release. The streamer noted at the time that Season 2 would 'revolve around a new case,' signaling that the legal drama series was becoming an anthology. Season 1 — based on the Scott Turow bestseller that also inspired a 1990 movie version starring Harrison Ford — starred Jake Gyllenhaal as Rusty Sabich, a Los Angeles prosecutor accused of murdering his colleague and mistress. (Read TVLine's finale recap and review our list of lingering Season 1 questions.) David E. Kelley will once again serve as showrunner on Presumed Innocent Season 2 alongside Erica Lipez. They and Brosnahan will exec-produce alongside Gyllenhaal, J.J. Abrams, Rachel Rusch Rich and Matthew Tinker , while Presumed Innocent author Scott Turow acts as a co-EP. Presumed Innocent: 11 Questions the Season 1 Finale Left Us With View List Best of TVLine Stars Who Almost Played Other TV Roles — on Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, Lost, Gilmore Girls, Friends and Other Shows TV Stars Almost Cast in Other Roles Fall TV Preview: Who's In? Who's Out? Your Guide to Every Casting Move!


UPI
2 hours ago
- UPI
Look: Megan Stalter stars in Lena Dunham series 'Too Much'
1 of 5 | Megan Stalter attends the SAG Awards in 2023. She stars in the upcoming Netflix series "Too Much." File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo June 10 (UPI) -- Netflix is previewing Lena Dunham's upcoming series Too Much ahead of its July 10 arrival on the streamer. The trailer released Tuesday shows Jessica, who is portrayed by Megan Stalter, seemingly breaking into a friend's (Emily Ratajkowski) apartment in the middle of the night following a breakup. "Leaving me is the worst thing that anyone's ever done!" Jessica declares. Her grief takes her to London, where she meets and falls for a musician, Felix (Will Sharpe). "The show does a really good job of knowing what it is, but then also flipping it on its head. It has such an awareness of rom-com... But it also does have some rougher edges. That makes the sweeter aspects all the more powerful, because there's an honesty to it," Stalter told Netflix's Tudum. Adele Exarchopoulos, Adwoa Aboah, Andrew Rannells, Andrew Scott, Daisy Bevan, Dean-Charles Chapman, Janicza Bravo, Jennifer Saunders, Jessica Alba, Kaori Momoi, Kit Harington, Leo Reich, Michael Zegen, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Rhea Perlman, Richard E. Grant, Rita Ora, Rita Wilson and Stephen Fry also star. Andrew Scott, Jennifer Saunders, Kit Harington, Jessica Alba, and Rita Ora are all in Too Much? Say less! Netflix (@netflix) June 10, 2025 Stalter plays Kayla on the Max series Hacks, while Sharpe is known for portraying Ethan in The White Lotus Season 2.


Vogue
2 hours ago
- Vogue
Atsuko Okatsuka Is Here to Make Friends
Right. Or you need an earthquake or something—everyone will get really close. I always say that a common enemy doesn't have to be a person. It could be Mother Nature. It could be a long line. Your grandmother raised you, and she figures so prominently in your content that she's become a celebrity herself. I do get along with the elderly more. Kids and I butt heads a lot. They don't like me. I've met so many babies with my haircut, and they're like, Why does this baby get to walk around? Why does she get her own seat on an airplane? And I'm like, You have no idea. You have so many things ahead of you. Every rule, every law is for you. You are the future. People would email me asking to get my grandma in their films, because they needed a Taiwanese or Asian grandma. It was, like, 12-hour shoot days for a SAG [Screen Actors Guild union] production. There are rules for children for SAG. They can only work certain hours and they have to have a teacher on set. So I was like, surely there are labor rules for seniors there. There isn't. They're just considered 18 and older, so they'd be able to work my grandma the whole 12 hours without rest. I'm finding out that with elders, there isn't anything protecting them. In an article for Tokyo Weekender, you said you feel like you have a sixth sense about culture. Do you feel like it's nurture or nature that's made you such a keen observer? It's probably both. You do have to be curious about other people and how they live and think. I was born in Taiwan and then moved to Japan, and then I was moved to America abruptly. Not my choice, any of these things. So I had to adapt quickly and be able to read people. The first language I really heard in America was Spanish, because of my classmates. And then I had Russians in my class, a classmate from Turkey. I had to learn where that was. The Russian kids didn't speak English, and I didn't either, so we were like, Do we come up with a third language? Do we use our physicality? I'm a very physical performer. I use my eyes a lot. Sometimes I make a noise instead of a word. I think all of that developed from me trying to connect with all kinds of people from all kinds of places.