Before he was the Emmy-winning showrunner behind Slow Horses, the darkly funny and emotionally rich Apple TV+ spy drama, Will Smith tested punchlines on the stand-up comedy circuit in the UK, even opening for Ricky Gervais’s sold-out tour in 2007.
The solo spotlight gave Smith the best education in TV comedy anyone could ask for. “It sharpens your instinct for what’s going to land. Stand-up gives you a sense of rhythm, confidence in front of an audience, and most importantly, it teaches you how to listen, whether that’s to an audience or to your actors,” he says.
It’s Smith’s blend of sharp wit, emotional depth, and character that has made Slow Horses such a popular show. Based on the books by Mick Herron, the show centers around a misfit team of disgraced MI5 agents sent to a spy purgatory known as Slough House. The leader of the losers is Jackson Lamb, a brilliant but foul-mouthed crank played by Gary Oldman, who uses flatulence and verbal abuse as much as strategy and instinct to get the job done.
Smith’s previous writing credits include Veep (for which he won two Emmys) and the British political satire The Thick of It; both shows were created by Armando Iannucci. Smith credits Iannucci for giving him the tools to write Jackson Lamb’s voice in Slow Horses. “He uses humor as a weapon. He undermines people, deflects, misdirects. You’re never supposed to feel like someone’s doing a joke in Slow Horses. It’s just who these characters are, how they survive in this world.”
From Comedy to Drama
Smith’s journey into television writing wasn’t a simple path. Inspired by comedian-writer Ben Elton (The Young Ones, Mr. Bean), he started performing stand-up while submitting scripts to BBC Radio. “I always wanted to do everything. Write and perform. Stand-up was a way to do both,” he says. A radio producer named Phil Clarke took Smith under his wing, helping him build out a career as a performer and writer.
Over time, Smith’s writing took priority over his stand-up, eventually leading him to Iannucci’s writers’ rooms and then to Slow Horses in 2022. “It all makes sense to me now,” he admits, “even though it looked a bit scattershot from the outside.”
Writing Jackson Lamb, the Grouchy Patriarch of Slow Horses
While the character Jackson Lamb is well-defined in Mick Herron’s novels, adding Smith’s dialogue and Oldman’s performance into the mix take the character to a whole new level.
There’s no one else like Lamb on TV. Smith says what’s most important is listening to his actor. “The character becomes a fusion of Mick’s writing, Gary’s instincts, and my own rhythm as a writer. It’s about tuning in. Honestly, you just hear his voice in your head after a while.”
Lamb is incredibly abrasive yet he has more experience as a spy than anyone else. “He doesn’t want to do the job, MI5 doesn’t want him doing it, and yet, he’s the best they’ve got,” Smith says. “He farts once or twice a season, and people remember it like he does it every episode. That’s the power of a character who casts a long shadow.”
River Cartwright’s Emotional Journey
Season 4 of Slow Horses gets even more character-driven as the emotional storyline between River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), and his grandfather David (Jonathan Pryce), progresses. David, once one of MI5’s sharpest minds, is now battling dementia. The relationship resonates deeply with Smith. “It’s a tragedy. River loses the man who raised him, questions the lies he was told about his origins, finds a father figure who turns out to be a psychopath and is left with Jackson Lamb as the only paternal presence in his life. It’s grim, but it’s gripping.”
Smith says the nursing home storyline was inspired by watching Pryce and Lowden work together in Season 3. “They were so brilliant, so moving. I knew we could go deeper. And it’s not something you often see in a spy show – characters dealing with family legacy, aging, and betrayal on this level.”
On Not Repeating Yourself
With Season 5 already in the can and set to release in the fall, Smith remains determined not to let the show grow stale. “The challenge with any returning series is that it has to feel the same, but different. I never want to be on set and have an actor say, ‘Haven’t we done this scene already?’” Smith says the show follows Herron’s books fairly closely and that helps each season feel distinct while pushing the boundaries of the spy genre.
Writing Advice: “Character Is Story”
For writers working on their own pilot scripts, especially in the spy genre, Smith has this advice. “Don’t lose heart. It’s a war of attrition. Slow Horses took five years to get made. But I’m glad it did, because I had five years of Veep experience that made me a better writer.”
He also says to write what you love, even if no one reads it. “The spec script that got me Slow Horses has never been made. Hardly anyone’s read it. But it served its purpose.”
Most importantly he says to focus on character. “If you do the work, they’ll start helping you with the story. I know it sounds pretentious, but I believe it – character is story. If you know who they are, they’ll show you what happens next.”
Slow Horses Season 4 is currently streaming on Apple TV+.