Slow Horses author says shocking deaths are "necessary" in hit spy thriller
Could more central characters be about to share Min and Marcus's fate?
Mick Herron, the author of the Slough House books which have been adapted as hit Apple TV+ show Slow Horses, has addressed some of the major characters deaths across the series – and why he felt they had to be included.
Main character deaths to feature across the spy thriller series include Dustin Demri-Burns's character Min in season 2, as well as Marcus Kadiff Kirwan's Marcus Longridge in season 4.
Speaking at a special An Evening With Radio Times screening and Q&A for Slow Horses season 5 at the BFI Southbank, Herron was asked about not being afraid to kill of central characters, and why he felt certain figures had to go.
Herron said: "Apologies to the cast! That was something that I thought was going to be necessary if I were to write a series of thrillers about people doing what is essentially a dangerous job, even though they're supposed to be sidelined. If I hadn't killed any characters off, then it would have become more a sitcom, really."
"And also I wanted to write, particularly with the very first death of a major character, I wanted to write about grief," he continued. "I wanted to write about the effect on the other characters of taking one of those characters away, and the responses they would have, ranging from being really heartbroken to Roddy (Christopher Chung) who didn't give a toss."
The latest season of Slow Horses picks up with the team still mourning the loss of Marcus, just as they are forced to investigate a series of increasingly bizarre events taking place across London – most bizarre of all, Roddy Ho miraculously has a girlfriend.
While this season may have lost Kirwan, it does feature some new characters, including Roddy's girlfriend Tara, played by Hiba Bennani, and London Mayor Zahar Jaffrey, as played by Nick Mohammed.
Speaking recently, the director for the season, Saul Matzstein, said that we would see Jaffrey in the middle of a re-election campaign against "a right wing provocateur character".
"What we have is sort of two visions of Britain fighting against each other," Metzstein said. "And so it's got a little bit of political resonance, both quite direct and quite subtle at the same time. There's troubles in London and Nick Mohammed being the mayor, is deeply involved in some of this."
Slow Horses season 5 releases on 25th September 2025 on Apple TV+ – sign up to Apple TV+ now.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
