Some shows just feel so real that you start to wonder if parts of them might actually exist. That’s exactly what happens when you watch ‘Slow Horses‘. The series follows a bunch of MI5 agents who’ve all messed up in some way and ended up stuck in a dull, rundown office called Slough House.
It looks miserable, the people seem broken, and yet somehow, they keep getting pulled into major spy missions. But the story of ‘Slow Horses‘ feels so believable that you can’t help but wonder if Slough House is even real.
Why ‘Slow Horses’ Feels Like A True Story
The show has been running since 2022 and has already garnered 14 Emmy nominations to date. However, not everyone has discovered it yet, which is surprising, considering it’s one of the best spy dramas out there. Sure, there aren’t any fancy tech or glam, but you’ve got a group of misfit agents doing boring office work because they’ve been kicked out of the main MI5 division.
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Even their boss Jackson Lamb looks like he’s given up on life. He’s rude and smells like cigarettes, but under all that, he’s an incredible leader. Turns out, he used to be a top spy and still has the instincts to prove it. Over time, you begin to care about these so-called “rejects.” And despite their reputation, they keep saving the day when no one expects them to. But how? Just like you, we are wondering the same as well.
The Anti-James Bond Spy Thriller’s Inspiration
That’s what a lot of fans have been wondering. The setup feels so believable that it’s easy to think there might really be a secret department like Slough House somewhere in London. But nope, it’s not real. It came straight from the mind of Mick Herron, the British author who wrote the Slow Horses books. There’s a total of 15 in this Herron’s book series, and it has successfully sold over four million copies. No doubt why!
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Herron has never worked in intelligence, but you’d never guess it. He nails the small details, the office politics, the paperwork, the moments of dry humor, and that’s why it all feels so real. While the concept of MI5 is real, the concept of Slough House is completely imaginary. That’s just fiction. In real life, if an agent made the kind of mistakes these characters have, they’d probably be fired.
For instance, in ‘Slow Horses‘, Min Harper gets sent to Slough House after leaving a classified file on the subway. In reality, he’d be out of a job immediately. Still, the show gets so many things right about how intelligence work actually feels. It shows it all: the endless reports, the late nights, and the power struggles between agents. The show might be fiction, but it captures how messy, human, and unglamorous spy life probably is.
So no, Slough House from ‘Slow Horses‘ doesn’t exist. But if it did, you’d probably find these exact characters there!
