Gary Oldman’s Streaming Series Is So Good It Just Got Renewed For Two More Seasons
Gary Oldman is proving that his superb acting ability translates into television, as his new series has been picked for a surprising additional two seasons.
AppleTV’s spy drama, Slow Horses has clearly been hit with viewers. The streamer initially took a leap of faith by commissioning the second season alongside the first. But after a successful run of the Gary Oldman venture, the series has been renewed for two more seasons. Directed by James Hawes, the first six-episode season premiered globally on April 1st, with the second installment set to premiere later this year, Deadline reports.
The Gary Oldman-led show is based on the Slough House spy book series by Mick Herron. Season one followed the events of the first novel, Slow Horses, while the upcoming season is inspired by Dead Lions. Seasons three and four will be adapted from the next two novels Real Tigers and Spook Street. Adapted for television by Will Smith (of Veep fame), the project is produced for Apple TV+ by See-Saw Films. Saul Metzstein is set to direct the third season of the show. The director for the fourth season has not been announced yet.
Slow Horses is described as a darkly humorous espionage drama. The story follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 called Slough House. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but short-tempered leader of the spies, who end up in Slough House because of their career-ending mistakes. But they still frequently find themselves blundering around the smoke and mirrors of the espionage world.
Directed by Jeremy Lovering, season two of Slow Horses will premiere later this year. This time, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his team try to prove that his Cold War-era colleague was murdered. According to Empire, the third season will see, Jackson Lamb’s disgraced spies work together to foil a rogue agent when one of their own is kidnapped. And season four will open with a bombing that detonates personal secrets, rocking the already unstable foundations of Slough House.
Starring alongside Academy Award winner Gary Oldman in Slow Horses is a fantastic ensemble cast. It includes the talents of Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomas, BAFTA Scotland Award winner Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Freddie Fox, Chris Reilly, Samuel West, Sophie Okonedo, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan, and Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce.
Following its release, Slow Horses earned largely positive reviews, with aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes bestowing the series with a 94% approval rating. The show was also well received by critics who described it as a refreshing take on the espionage genre due to its willingness to let its band of snoops be bumbling. Gary Oldman was also praised for giving viewers an incredible master class in frumpy authority. Fans were especially fond of the show’s opening theme, Strange Game which was performed by Rolling Stones front-man Mick Jagger – who wrote it exclusively for the series.
Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Douglas Urbanski, Gail Mutrux, Will Smith, Jane Robertson, and Graham Yost serve as executive producers for Slow Horses. There is currently no information about the premiere dates for the newly announced seasons of the Gary Oldman-led series.
