The Idea To Start Slow Horses With A Fart Came From Oscar Winner Gary Oldman
This year saw Marvel try their hand at the spy genre with the pale John le Carré pastiche that was "Secret Invasion." A lot went wrong with the show, to the point that it became yet another nail in what may or may not be the MCU's coffin. Meanwhile, Daniel Craig's 007 has completed his transformation from a grounded, layered character to whatever he was during that divisive James Bond film "No Time To Die." "Slow Horses," on the other hand, is spying done right.
The main draw of the Apple TV+ show is undoubtedly Gary Oldman's performance as Jackson Lamb, the slovenly, sarcastic head of Slough House, home to a band of misfit screw-up sleuths banished from MI5 headquarters. Now in its third season, "Slow Horses" has benefitted hugely not just from its excellent source material — Mick Herron's "Slough House" series of novels — but from Oldman's presence. His portrayal of Lamb is the exact opposite of his George Smiley in 2011's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." While both are, to use the same phrasing as Judi Dench's M in "GoldenEye," relics of the Cold War, Lamb has none of the refined sophistication and quiet dignity of Smiley. In fact, Oldman's character makes a point of remaining off-puttingly candid and unreserved, making for some of the best moments in this under-appreciated thriller series.
You might think having such an esteemed actor in the lead role would lend Lamb some semblance of grace or grandeur. But while there might be a little of that going on, thanks to Oldman's chameleonic abilities, his jaded spy remains a perfectly bedraggled mess of a man. In fact, the Oscar-winner is seemingly responsible for the repulsive way in which Lamb introduces himself to audiences.
Jackson Lamb's crude introduction
Throughout three seasons of "Slow Horses," Jackson Lamb has remained aloof, irascible, and outright hostile to pretty much everyone — especially the "bunch of absolute losers" at Slough House. But he's never completely unlikable because you're never quite sure whether he actually does hate everyone or whether he has a soft spot for his band of outcast spooks. That and Gary Oldman is effortlessly brilliant in the role, delivering impeccably-timed crass remarks and insults throughout while still retaining a sense that his veteran MI5 agent is a multi-layered character — even if we hardly ever see those other layers. His relationship with Saskia Reeves' Catherine Standish, for example, hints at some vestige of compassion and sensitivity lurking beneath Lamb's disheveled appearance and crude manner.
But the crudeness is what wins out most of the time. His introduction, in fact, is about as crude as you can get. When we first meet Lamb in episode 1 of "Slow Horses," he's passed out on a couch in Slough House and prods himself awake with a particularly loud bout of flatulence. The books are full of Lamb letting loose, but it turns out that when it came to the streaming adaptation, this idea to debut the central character in such an unflattering way came directly from none other than Gary Oldman himself. Yes, celebrated thespian and Academy Award-winning megastar Gary Oldman floated the idea to showrunner Will Smith.
Smith revealed the unlikely factoid to Forbes, saying: "I'm pretty sure he was the one who was like, 'Let's open with a fart.' [...] I still can't quite believe that we were allowed to introduce Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman to the Apple TV+ audience by waking himself up farting, but we did."
Slow Horses has 'really good fart choices'
If you've never seen "Slow Horses," this all might seem so lowbrow that you're probably wondering how anyone could actually consider Apple's series to be good. But far from undermining the drama of the whole thing, Jackson Lamb's lack of personal restraint actually heightens it. That is to say that the character feels like a real person, which helps elevate just about everything in the show.
What's more, if you're a fan of Mick Herron's books, you'll know that Lamb uses his flatulence as — believe it or not — a tactical weapon in his war against whatever nefarious forces currently menace King and Country. That's something Will Smith said is just as important in the show, telling Forbes:
"In terms of Lamb's farts, that is set, and Gary sees it as more of a character thing; it's like a tactic Lamb uses to put someone off their stride, show them disrespect or to confuse and disorientate them. It's not gratuitous from Lamb. It might appear that way, but it isn't. It's definitely part of the character that Gary wants."
Which is why, when you hear that Gary Oldman suggested Smith open his prestige drama with flatulence, that doesn't mean the man has lost his touch and is now pandering to the lowest common denominator. It means he understands his character and the importance of humor in both the books and Smith's adaptation. Though you'd hardly get that impression if you read Oldman telling Entertainment Weekly that when he first saw a cut of the series he texted the director to say, "Really good fart choices." Never retire, Gary.