The series<\/a>, as with its source material, is focused on a potential Russian sleeper cell, dormant since the Cold War, which is operating in the UK. Suspicions are aroused when washed up British agent Dickie Bow, a contemporary of Jackson Lamb and David Cartwright, is found dead.<\/p>\n While the first season was largely faithful to the source material, there were some deviations as it rattled towards the end, one being the expansion on Lamb\u2019s involvement in the death of Charles Partner, colleague of fellow Slough House exile Catherine Standish.<\/p>\n There were also hints that Olivia Cooke\u2019s Sid Baker may not have met her demise earlier in the series, which is alluded to much further down the line in the novels.<\/p> Season 2, based on the second book in the collection Dead Lions, has also strayed from Herron\u2019s plotting in places, with the major divergences listed below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Season 2 follows the basic outline of the book but begins to deviate early on, with River Cartwright\u2019s undercover operation in the sleepy village of Upshott, where Dickie\u2019s killer was last spotted, travelling in a different direction. River scopes out the village for clues about Dickie\u2019s murder in both the series and the novel, but the manner in which the investigation unfolds varies drastically.<\/p>\n In the series, the only locals we cross paths with are Kelly Tropper\u2019s parents Duncan (who owns the flying club) and Alex.<\/p>\n In Dead Lions (the second novel), the investigation into events in Upshott is far grander in scope, with River encountering many of the locals in the pub and through his digging, whereas in the series it feels more intimate just focused on the Troppers, although this may have been in part due to COVID restrictions at the time of filming. The novel has a grander conspiracy at play including an MOD site and a larger portion of the village ultimately revealing themselves to be Cicadas.<\/p>\n With much of the book focused on River\u2019s storyline and the series spinning many plates, it makes sense for the show to streamline the story somewhat, expanding the role of some of the other Slough House members.<\/p>\n As in Dead Lions, Min Harper makes a surprisingly early exit after proving himself to be an integral part of the team in the first season. This forms a key part of the storyline in both, with heavy implications for Louisa Guy and the Slough House team more broadly.<\/p>\n Min is drugged by the Russians that he\u2019s monitoring alongside Louisa but unlike the book, which is somewhat ambiguous, we see Min\u2019s death and the events leading up to the discovery of his body laid out in much more detail on screen, further emphasising Louisa\u2019s need for vengeance.<\/p>\n Shirley Dander is a new addition to the Slough House crew in season 2. Unlike the novels, which give her more to do further down the line, she has a meatier role in the adaptation.<\/p>\n We see Shirley trying to help retrieve CCTV footage for the investigation into Dickie\u2019s death, and she\u2019s involved in a thrilling chase on a train with Roddy, which wasn\u2019t the case at this stage in the novel. That decision ups the stakes for both characters and helps the audience to form more of a connection to Shirley.<\/p>\n The team behind the show also ditched Shirley\u2019s cocaine habit, which is a key part of her character in the books.<\/p>\n Beyond some of the changes to the plot of Dead Lions, some of the storylines alluded to in the first season are expanded upon, with Lamb doubling down on his involvement in the death of Charles Partner, something hinted at throughout the books but not directly addressed until much later.<\/p>\n David Cartwright\u2019s role is also expanded, with the retired MI5 officer given a crucial role in the conflict\u2019s culmination. Surprisingly, light isn\u2019t shed on Sid Baker\u2019s whereabouts, but if the novels are anything to go, there\u2019s plenty more to come from that strand of the story.<\/p>\n While still faithful to the core of Dead Lions, Slow Horses season 2 does expand on some of the book\u2019s details to give some of the characters meatier roles and to build on some of the work laid out in the first season. Far from proving detrimental, the majority of the changes make sense, helping to keep the narrative flowing and in some cases, increase the stakes.<\/p>\n With seasons 3 and 4 on the way, there\u2019s plenty more where that came from.<\/p>\n Episodes 1-3 of Slow Horses season 2 are available to watch now on Apple TV+, with further episodes airing weekly. Sign up to<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Apple TV+<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>now.<\/strong><\/p>\n Visit our<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Drama<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>hub for more news, interviews and features, or find something to watch now with our<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Christmas double issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now<\/b><\/span> \u2013\u00a0<\/b>subscribe now<\/b><\/span><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0<\/b>Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast<\/b><\/span><\/a>.<\/b><\/span><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Christopher Connor Published: Thursday, 15 December 2022 at 12:00 am Slow Horses, based on the acclaimed espionage novels from Mick Herron, has been a considerable success for Apple TV+, with the drama now well into its second season. The series, as with its source material, is focused on a potential Russian sleeper cell, dormant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":27209,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/slow-horses-season-2-differs-from-the-book-in-a-major-way-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/slow-horses-season-2-differs-from-the-book-in-a-major-way-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/slow-horses-season-2-differs-from-the-book-in-a-major-way-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/slow-horses-season-2-differs-from-the-book-in-a-major-way-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/slow-horses-season-2-differs-from-the-book-in-a-major-way-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/slow-horses-season-2-differs-from-the-book-in-a-major-way-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/slow-horses-season-2-differs-from-the-book-in-a-major-way-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Christopher Connor Published: Thursday, 15 December 2022 at 12:00 am Slow Horses, based on the acclaimed espionage novels from Mick Herron, has been a considerable success for Apple TV+, with the drama now well into its second season. The series, as with its source material, is focused on a potential Russian sleeper cell, dormant…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/27208"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}From Upshott with Love<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/09\/SlowHorsesPhoto020101-cc5bf88.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Min\u2019s demise<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/ATVSlowHorses020204-3dd61d1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Shirley & Roddy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/SlowHorsesPhoto020502-5db2d2e.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Lamb and Cartwright<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/ATVSlowHorses020108-fb3b52f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"