In the wake of the success of Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, Chris Connor looks forward to a new golden age of TV spy shows…
Espionage and TV have a long and often hugely successful history, if we look at acclaimed adaptations of John Le Carre’s work including The Night Manager and Alec Guinness-led adaptations of the Smiley versus Karla series. In more recent years we have had the likes of Killing Eve and Spooks to sink our teeth into, showcasing a wildly different tone and approach to spy craft.
Perhaps the most successful recent spy series has been Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, bringing Mick Herron’s novels to the small screen with four series under its belt and at least two more to come. The balance of comedy and drama has helped mark it out from some of its competitors but the remainder of 2024 has plenty of imitators waiting in the wings with big budgets and major names of their own. Are witnessing a new golden era for espionage on TV?
The Day of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 fiction debut has been adapted before, memorably for film in 1973 with Edward Fox in the titular role as a slippery assassin assigned to kill the French President Charles De Gaulle. It was also adapted in the 1990s with Bruce Willis to less critical success. The novel has been given a new lease of life with a contemporary reimagining, transporting our rogue and mysterious killer into the 21st Century, here played by Eddie Redmayne. It retains the mastery of disguise and elusiveness of the Forsythe novel and will no doubt introduce it to a whole new generation.
The cat and mouse game that was such a vital part of the previous takes on the story remains in tact with Lashana Lynch’s Bianca, hot on his heels. From the trailers, the scale and magnitude of this project is obvious with no expense spared, getting two of the hottest talents in Britain to front up a reimagining that shows how seriously Sky has taken this project. The reviews for the project match the level of anticipation, showing that this adaptation has the potential to stand apart from the previous film.
Another espionage-related show with a huge cast is The Agency for Paramount + based on the French series The Bureau. The cast is among the most stacked this year led by Michael Fassbender with Jodie Turner-Smith, Jeffrey Wright, Richard Gere, Katherine Waterston, John Magaro and Hugh Bonneville. It is set within a department that trains and handles deep-cover agents on lengthy assignments.
The original French series ran for five seasons so there is plenty of scope for the show to run for a while, should it prove a success with viewers. Having several major stars attached will certainly do it no harm and further proves that Hollywood stars can be drawn to espionage TV. While foreign remakes can be a risky prospect the fact this series comes sandwiched between The Day of The Jackal and Netflix’s Black Doves, really does make this one of the most loaded periods of major espionage on TV with Slow Horses only just finishing another highly successful run.
While not as successful as some of the other series mentioned Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) stepped into the spy game with The Veil starring Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss, again another high profile series with a major star attached. Likewise Len Deighton’s much loved The Ipcress File was revived in 2022 for a glossy ITV series led by Joe Cole, Lucy Boynton and Tom Hollander, while it took some liberties with Deighton’s story it was another attempt at bringing the story to life, nearly 60 years after the iconic Michael Caine film.
One of the most anticipated series for the remainder of 2024 is Black Doves from Giri/Haji and The Lazarus Project creator Joe Barton. Set in the murky world of espionage in London, crossing into the criminal underworld, it stars Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire, among others. Such is Netflix’s faith in the series that it has been renewed for a second season, well in advance of its first season premiering. So we can expect to see more of this story and its starry cast. It marks Knightley’s first major TV live-action role in over 20 years and based on Barton’s previous work should prove a gripping watch, anchored by its cast.
Safe to say that 2024 has proven to be a huge year for spy fiction on TV with both returning and new series proving a huge hit with viewers and critics and many boasting huge budgets and Hollywood stars. This trend seems set to continue to 2025 and beyond with The Night Manager returning for a second season and more outings for the Slough House gang in development. With so many acclaimed spy books, never done for TV before there is a huge minefield of content and it seems fans can expect plenty more twists, turns and double-crosses in the coming years in what truly does seem to be a golden era for big budget spy thrillers on the small screen.
What are your thoughts on the current (and upcoming) crop of espionage shows? Let us know on our socials @FlickeringMyth…
Chris Connor