A year or more, a friend (or friends) recommended we watch "Slow Horses," a British spy series set in London and focused on MI5. They gave us the same warning I'm giving you -- the first episode of the first season is weird and slow, but then it gets great.
I'm glad we were warned, because the first episode did not endear itself to us. But with six episodes across four seasons, the scorecard is 1 terrible episode, 23 fabulous episodes.
I would equate Slow Horses to a great roller coaster. The first episode is the slow and boring part as the roller coaster climbs up to the initial drop, but the second episode is when the fun and crazy ride really starts.
Slow Horses is based on a series of books about a fictional "Slough House" by Mick Herron. I won't give away the premise, and I've not read the books (yet) but suffice it to say we are big fans of the show.
Gary Oldman is fantastic as Jackson Lamb, who runs Slough House as a rude, disgusting, yet clever spymaster. Young Jack Lowden, as River Cartwright, is the "hero" of the show, a youthful failed spy who can not be fired so he's consigned to the Slow Horses. Kirsten Scott Thomas is brilliant as Diana Taverner, the deputy director general of MI5, who engages in battles of wits with terrorists and Jackson Lamb.
The rest of the ensemble cast are easily underestimated (except for Roddy Ho, who is brilliant in his egotistical portrayal of a selfish tech wizard with a high opinion of his skills with computers and with the ladies) and they are endearing (even the ones who die in the show).
(Editor: What does the Mick Jagger quote have to do with this? Writer: Mick sings the catchy theme song, and that line sums up the Slow Horses. First time I heard it, I said, "that sounds like the Rolling Stones, and I was 20% correct -- but that Jagger fellow should count for more than 20% of the Stones.)
Since COVID started, we've watched six shows set in Great Britain -- "Peaky Blinders," "Gangs of London," "Ted Lasso," "Clarkson's Farm," "Welcome to Wrexham," and "Slow Horses." All have been fabulous. Warning -- "Gangs of London" has extreme scenes of violence and isn't for everyone. Carol would leave the room and then I'd call her back when the violence ended because the story is that good.
If you haven't watched "Slow Horses" it's on Apple TV, and all four seasons thus far are available for streaming.
(Editor: That's a LOT of background, get to the point. Writer: Fair enough, but everyone wants to write about TV or movies!)
So as I was planning this trip, I remembered that two years ago when we went to London for three days, we did a tour of James Bond scenes based in London. It was a lot of fun. So I thought for a minute and then looked up walking tours for Slow Horses. And, lo and behold there is one (the link in the previous sentence, if interested).
After booked the touring, Brit friend since 1983, Mick Fisher, said he and partner Jane had taken our advice and loved Slow Horses. So I invited them to join (Jane had to work, but Mick is retired) and he joined as well.
On our way to the Old Street Station to meet our guide, Susannah C, who I found on my favorite website for finding great tour guides, ToursbyLocals.com, I WhatsApp'd Mick to ask for a lunch suggestion, as we wisely abandoned my original plan to have lunch near the apartment.
Mick had used to commute to work in one of his various jobs via Old Street Station. He suggested we go to Artillery Arms on Bunhill Row. It's a right proper pub, and Carol and I enjoyed our toasties (toasted sandwiches) and me my pint of bitter (bitter is the mainstay of British beer, and is known for moderate bitterness -- kind of like an ex-girlfriend) before heading back to meet both Mick as well as Susannah C outside the Tube stop.
Susannah turned out to be a fantastic tour guide (nearly all we've hired on ToursbyLocals have been). We started just outside of the one square mile of the City of London, but spent most of our time checking out filming locations in the City.
The weather was perfect for a walk. After her intro, Susannah walked us over to Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, which is right across the street from the Artillery Arms pub. It was used from 1665 to 1854 (the Burial Ground, not the pub) and also includes the graves of John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, and Thomas Bayes.
From there she took us around the street purporting to be where Slough House, although the House is an amalgamation of shots -- the actual address isn't where they claim it is in the show, the stairs is not on the same street as Slough House, and more. But it is pretty neat to see (go to the photos post below for more details).
Susannah once went to a book signing by author Mick Herron and asked why he made such a nice neighborhood seem so seedy. Because, truth be told, the neighborhood seems pretty nice. We were there on a sunny day, but there's a lot of rain/bad weather on the show -- primarily because they use rain machines to give off the dank and dark experience.
We talked about one of my favorite parts of TV shows, which is where they have characters running/walking/biking/driving etc. through one neighborhood and they come out in a neighborhood that are not connected (may be miles away), such as when characters based in DC metro to Georgetown (no Metro in Georgetown) or drive the hour to Norfolk (actually three and a half hours on a good day, and since a "good day" is illegal on I-95 and that part of I-64, it's usually four-five hours.)
And that happens on Slow Horses as well, such as foot chase scenes that went the alley ends, don't come out where the alley actually does end in real life.
(Jack Lowden, who plays River Cartwright, did not run track, but he's trained for parts that involve running, so his running form is awesome and on par with Tom Cruise.)
It is funny to learn that in all the seedy scenes, they have to bring in trash for the day or two of shooting (if it's more than one day, they have someone there to guard the trash so no one steals it((!)) or takes it away.)
Then we went into the Barbican Estate because any number of scenes have been shot there. Built after WWII because London housing stock was knocked low by the Blitz, the Barbican went from public housing to being sold in the 1980s during the Thatcher government's successful move to significantly increase home ownership.
The Barbican was built in the brutalist style, but I'd call it more "Brutalist with a human face" because there were design elements that were not just terrible. And, it sure worked better than "Socialism with a human face" as New York City residents are bound to find out.
We wandered around the Barbican for a while, as Susannah pointed out various scenes, as well as interesting parts of the Barbican, such as ruins of the Roman walls and remainders of a medieval defensive tower.
We also wandered up and onto the Barbican Bridge, where a crucial scene in Season 3, episode 1 takes place. It's a confrontation between River and his nemesis James "Spider" Webb, a seemingly golden boy who aced River out for a coveted spot in MI5 (no plot spoilers here, other than you will both be repulsed by Spider and yet admire his acting chops as well).
There were more scenes, including the "spy church" where the best agents are buried when they die. Susannah took us to the church, and we were lucky it was open. She was thrilled because typically it is locked. Well, in the Season 1, episode 6, Jackson Lamb (played brilliantly by Gary Oldman) remarks that he bribed the janitor to let him in. I noted that anytime it is open, Susannah should take credit by saying she bribed the janitor to let the group in to see how many taking the tour will get the allusion.
By this point we were well into the City of London, as we went through a few more scenes.
Carol, Mick and I really enjoyed the tour. If you haven't seen the show, watch at least the first season of Slow Horses and let me know what you think!
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