MI5 boss declares himself a Slow Horses fan

The director general of MI5 has described himself as a "Slow Horses man", saying he is a fan of the spy thriller TV series.

The Apple TV+ show, described by some critics as the anti-James Bond, stars Sir Gary Oldman as the crude boss of a team of failed or disgraced MI5 agents who have been banished to a building called Slough House.

In a video post on MI5's official Instagram account, Sir Ken McCallum was asked "what do you really think about your friends over the river at MI6?"

"You might want to say there is room for both James Bond and Slow Horses," he said, adding "I happen myself to be a Slow Horses man".

He said: "I suppose maybe the person who wrote the question wanted to hear that there's some rivalry or whatever – the truth is they are our friends, they are our colleagues."

Answering questions at the National Archives, Sir Ken said both agencies along with the police and others work together in a team "each doing our particular thing, the thing that we are specialists at – to keep the country safe together".

The series is based on the best-selling novel Slow Horses by Mick Herron and premiered in 2022, with season six set to be released in September, and a seventh season set for release in 2027.

The show stars Sir Gary as Jackson Lamb, the shabby and dischevelled yet competent head of Slough House whose trademark move is breaking wind.

In an interview with the BBC in 2024 to promote the show's fourth series, Sir Gary described the show as: "The sort of slightly shady, dirty side of espionage. It's your PG Tips, Tescos version of it I guess."

Slow Horses also stars Dame Kristin Scott Thomas as MI5 Director General Diana Taverner, Jack Lowden as agent River Cartwright, and SirJonathan Pryce as Lowden's on-screen grandfather and retired British senior intelligence official.