Slow Horses fact vs. fiction: Everything the show gets wrong about MI5

Slow Horses on Apple TV+, based on Mick Herron’s Slough House books, is currently in its fourth season. It focuses on MI5, the UK’s domestic counterintelligence and security agency. Despite the author sticking to narrative details in the book, the TV adaptation of his work’s portrayal of MI5 has not been accurate.

Following its source material, Slow Horses centers on Slough House, an administrative hell for MI5 agents, who have messed up high-profile crimes. Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) is the ultimate miserable boss of the team and despite being the outcasts, the Slough House team does manage to get on some of the most compelling cases in MI5.

While Slow Horses offers a refreshing portrayal of the disgraced MI5 agents, not every aspect of the show is accurate. The show deviates from how the agency actually functions.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinion and contains spoilers for Slow Horses. Reader's discretion is advised.

Here’s a detailed look at all the things that Slow Horses gets wrong about MI5.

1.Slough House in Slow Horses is not a real MI5 Building

Slough House in Slow Horses is not real l Via: Apple TV+

Yes, you read that right, Slough House is not a real MI5 building. While the show has followed Herron’s works quite faithfully, it has made some minor changes to the plot.

To start with, the very foundation of Slow Horses, the Slough House, is fictional. No branch of MI5 dedicated to paper-pushing executives who are serving punishment postings exists.

2.The real MI5 has more administrative duties than field work

Slow Horses shows a lot of field work l Via: Apple TV+

Unlike other high-octane espionage thrillers, Slow Horses does not go overboard with the action sequences, there is still enough field work that the Slow Horse team gets involved in.

However, going by the accounts of real-life MI5 agents, Slow Horses, even with its depiction of the agents on a more realistic side, has shown more action than the agents generally see. A lot of the MI5 work is administrative in nature.

3.Slow Horses has high-level inter-office politics

Slow Horses has high level office politics l Via: Apple TV+

Inter-office politics is part of any kind of workplace and the MI5 is also no exception. However, in Slow Horses, it does seem that the inter-office politics has often been too dramatized for cinematic purposes.

There is an insane number of double-crossing, revenge-seeking plots and moles in Slow Horses. For instance, in Slow Horses Season 3, a large portion of the plot depends on inter-office politics. The way Sean Donovan (Sope Dirisu) plays out his part in the name of his lover and a former agent to bring forth the failings of MI5, seem a little too dramatic.

4. Agents in Slow Horses handle their weapons in a fashion that is not observed in real life

Slow Horses season 4 is now airing l Via: Apple TV+

Another inaccuracy in Slow Horses is the way the agents handle their weapons. Given the fact that the show features enough fights and firearms shooting, it is only natural that attention would shift to it.

One mistake that has been pointed out by professionals is that the agents have been depicted as putting their fingers on the trigger of their guns even when they had no intention of shooting. This is a huge mistake as it can prove fatal in case the trigger mistakenly goes off.

5.Cases take way more time to get solved in real life than in Slow Horses

Given the fact that every season of Slow Horses has only six episodes, the show wraps up the cases pretty fast. Though that ensures the plot remains tight and the viewers remain engrossed, it is somewhat unrealistic. The real MI5 takes longer to wrap up the cases as there are a lot more things to take care of and it is far less sensational.

6.‘Grey Books’ invented by Slow Horses is not a real MI5 thing

All three seasons of Slow Horses are streaming on Apple TV+

Conspiracies and career secrets have been the foundation of Slow Horses however, this trope is taken to a new height in Season 3. Since Donovan was keen on exposing the secrets of MI5, it led to the revelation of the Grey Books, which keep an account of all the alleged conspiracy theories regarding MI5 since its inception. However, as disappointing as it is for fans, it is a mere plot device.

All the episodes of Slow Horses Season 1-3 can be streamed on Apple TV+ with Season 4 dropping weekly episodes every Wednesday.