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The sixth season of Slow horses is off to a galloping start – but not everyone is as happy with how the series is progressing.
Apple TV’s hit spy series returned for its latest outing last month, with new episodes airing weekly until October 21.
All eyes were on this new set of episodes, not only because it is the first series without longtime showrunner Will Smith, but also because of its star Jack Lowden, who has become a favorite of James Bond in recent weeks.
Fans are recovering from a shocking moment in episode four, which saw the death of a fan-favorite character. And from what we hear, the actor who plays him is still in shock.
***Spoilers ahead for season six, episode four***
Episode four premiered on Wednesday (October 7) and culminated with a toilet knife fight at a gas station that saw JK Coe stabbed to death.
The moment came as a huge shock to viewers – but not to readers of Mick Herron’s Slough House books on which the series is based.
Actor Tom Brooke was introduced as Coe in the fourth season of Slow horsesaired in 2024, and quickly became a fan favorite for his expert skills and deadpan expression.
Talk to Town and countrythe actor admitted to having mixed feelings about his character’s demise. “I thought everything was going well with (death) until I started again Clown Town (the first novel in the Slough House novel series not to feature Coe) at the airport and I read two pages of it,” he recalls.
“I wouldn’t want to say I burst into tears, but I was like, ‘I can’t read this. I can’t engage in this world anymore because I’m not part of it.’ And then I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m not okay with this.’
Brooke, 46, had made peace with her character’s death before even joining the show. “I read the books when I got the job, and the job was a three-season contract offer. So that was good, but there was such a good death scene in the book that it was the first thing I talked about with the showrunner,” he said. “And I was like, ‘As long as we’re moving towards this and we can do it, that’s great.’ And he said, “Yes, we will in a few years.” »
The actor, who also starred in Empire of Light (2022) and The boat that rocked (2009), went on to explain that the death scene was rewritten after expressing concerns to the series’ creative team about making it too different from the book.
“It was just the ordinariness of the (death scene) in the book (that appealed to me),” he said. “He talks about mortgages with the mercenary, how to get a mortgage as a freelancer, all that kind of stuff (in the book),” he said.
“And it struck me because there’s such a logic to it that is so Coe because it’s so crazy. No one else would do it, but he’s interested. And at this point where we see him, he wants to talk — and that’s the sad thing, but he’s finally gotten to a point where he wants to engage with people, and it’s over for him.”
Season six is full of twists and turns, with these new episodes also seeing the return of Sid Baker, the quick-witted MI5 agent (played by Olivia Cooke) who fans thought they saw the end of in the first season.
The returning cast includes Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Christopher Chung, Kristen Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Joanna Scanlan and Aimee-Ffion Edwards.
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