The clever thing about this show is that it’s a spy caper in which implausible things happen, yet River behaves in an entirely plausible manner. We slip back comfortably into the lives of Slough House’s losers, misfits and boozers, all serving time in Lamb’s department after being banished from the main office for various disgraces. “Has anyone offered you tea or coffee?” Lamb asks a visitor, who replies that they haven’t. “Just as well,” shrugs Lamb, “I think there’s something dead in the water tank.”
There are entertaining new characters too: The Thick of It’s Joanna Scanlan arrives as an efficient manager who appals Lamb by tidying up his office; James Callis is the floundering new “First Desk” MI5 boss. Hugo Weaving is cast as a villain, but I can’t say too much about him. I can’t say too much about the plot at all, really, because I don’t want to spoil it for you.
But the first episode begins with the bombing of a London shopping centre at Christmas, before we move to the country home of River’s father, David (Jonathan Pryce), where he confronts an intruder. Or does he? David, a former spymaster, is showing early signs of dementia. River’s concerns about this, and Pryce’s touching performance, give this series of the show added heart.
Not that Lamb has much sympathy for his old boss, or indeed for anyone, including a murder victim (“bullet to the face, literally wiped the annoying look off it”). This lack of sentimentality is one of the many things that makes Lamb such a glorious character.
A cool new head of security, played by Ruth Bradley, thinks she has Lamb’s number. “I know you’re not the shambling fool you appear,” she tells him. But the rest of us knew that right from the start.
Season four begins on Apple TV+ today, with each episode arriving weekly