You might think that Slow Horses wouldn’t be the most popular series among the intelligence services, given the way it often portrays their personnel. However, it turns out MI5 director general Sir Ken McCallum has a sense of humour about it, and is actually a fan of the Apple TV series.
McCallum was answering questions as part of a video on MI5’s official Instagram account, when he was asked what he really thinks of “your friends over the river at MI6”.
He responded: “I suppose maybe the person who wrote the question wanted to hear that there’s some rivalry or whatever, but the truth is that they are our friends, they are our colleagues.
“MI5, MI6, GCHQ, the police and others have to work together and want to work together in a really big team, each doing our particular thing, the things that we are specialists at, to keep the country safe together.
“You might say that there is room for both James Bond and Slow Horses. I happen, myself, to be a Slow Horses man.”
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McCallum’s statement of course refers to the James Bond franchise as a representation of MI6, while Slow Horses is dealing with MI5. However, it’s still interesting to hear his insights on these two major spy stories.
Of course, both have new projects on the way. While a new James Bond film is currently in development, with casting underway, the sixth season of Slow Horses is set to arrive on Apple TV in September.
The synopsis for season 6 says that it sees “the Slow Horses on the run as Diana Taverner embroils them all in a fatally high-stakes game of retaliation and revenge”.
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Gary Oldman will be returning as Jackson Lamb, alongside the likes of Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner, Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander, Tom Brooke as JK Coe and Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho.
Slow Horses is available to stream on Apple TV. Season 6 will be released from 16 September. Start your seven day free Apple TV trial.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
