With season six of Slow Horses, the hit Apple TV spy thriller, set to debut this month, Gary Oldman has spoken about the future of his character, Jackson Lamb. Set for release on the streaming platform on 16 September, season six is adapted from the sixth and seventh novels in Mick Herron’s Slough House series.
The critically acclaimed drama follows a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents led by Lamb. Season six sees Oldman return alongside Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Christopher Chung, Rosalind Eleazar, Joanna Scanlan, and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Speaking to Radio Times ahead of the new season, Oldman said he believes Herron already knows Lamb’s fate as he discussed the future of the series.
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Asked about how he incorporates his own experiences and ideas, as well as those of his wife, Gisele Schmidt, into Lamb’s backstory, Oldman said: “Well, there’s a small, what I call, ‘character bible’ of things that I’ve thought about.
“You also learn more about Lamb as each book comes out, and there may be things that I would have liked to have known on day one that I kind of know now!”
Speaking about his character’s future, Oldman said he heard a rumour that creator Herron knows exactly when and how Lamb will die.
He explained: “You don’t really get much help from Mick Herron. You ask him questions, and he says, ‘Oh, I don’t know about that. If it’s not on the page, then I haven’t thought about it.’ Which I don’t believe for a minute. I heard recently that Mick knows when, where, and how Lamb will cop it…”
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Quizzed on how much longer he thinks he will play Lamb, with season six set to air and season seven already filmed, Oldman said: “I don’t know. I know Mick is going to be writing more Slow Horses books, and Apple write the cheques.
“But just because a show is successful, it doesn’t mean someone might not one day take it off the air anyway. I don’t know what those people upstairs are thinking.
“A show doesn’t have to fail to be cancelled, so it’s all up for grabs. Will we go on? I don’t know. Would I be keen? I’ve certainly enjoyed playing him. We’ll see where it goes.”
Slow Horses season 6 will premiere on Apple TV from 16 September. Seasons 1–5 are streaming now.
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Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.