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Catch the Slow Horse – the best spy thriller in years

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Gary Oldman is just one reason to watch Apple TV+ Gem Slow Horse, the best in the genre since The Night Manager, and HBO’s How to Survive a Pandemic for COVID-19 Vaccine sheds ‘happy tears’
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I swear to myself I won’t be writing about Will Smith in this week’s column – then one of the first to appear in the wonderful new Apple TV+ spy series Slow Horse: “Will Smith wrote”.

Apparently “Will Smith” is a fairly common name in the US and UK, as many William Smiths can now attest after being inundated with hate/compliment tweets since last Sunday’s Oscars. But to me, it’s the latest sign that the lines between reality and fiction have become so blurred on TV that Robin Thicke is contemplating a comeback.

Consider these recent events: Thieves stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and items from two Netflix shows about Master Thieves, “Lupin” and “The Crown.”

Meanwhile, last week, a writer resigned from her role on the soap opera’s medical mainstay “Grey’s Anatomy” following reports that the alleged autobiographical plot may have been fabricated. Apparently, colleagues first became suspicious when she talked about being slapped at a prestigious awards ceremony.

So, blurring lines aside, let me start by applauding writer Will Smith – and his other writers on the UK series – for doing something very, very rare: creating a show as good as the novel it’s based on . (I believe the last time this happened was for “Jesus of Nazareth.”)

If I told you, author Mick Herron’s delightfully whimsical spy novels have been compared to the novels of Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and John Le Carre — in fact, Every contemporary British author who has written a spy book has been compared to David Cornwell – a compliment indeed.

The best thing about the adaptation is that it retains the British character of the source material – right down to the lamb bhunas. No attempt is made to “Atlantize” the plot in this gripping six-episode series: no introduction to American agents; no downplaying of the vile “little England” racism that drives the story; effortless downplaying from every page Typical English sarcasm dripping.

In short, the creators know they have a gem in their hands – a franchise with tons of fantastic characters and a compelling storyline (the eighth book is due next month) – and it’s proven to be better than anything that has happened in the UK. The men’s game has been much safer than the cricket team in recent months.

The changes here are relatively minor – here’s a villain added; a ghost