'You want to add things that aren’t in the books'
As the crime drama returns for a fifth season, the actors tell us what we can expect from Shirley Dander and JK Coe this time round
Apple TV+
- Mark Lawson
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Aimee-Ffion Edwards plays Shirley Dander
Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander in Slow Horses season 2. Apple TV+
Is it easier playing a returning character than a new role?
There are new edges and spikes each time — and Shirley has a lot of edges and spikes. In a series based on books, there’s already a passionate following, so it makes the stakes higher as you have to meet people’s expectations. But also you want to add some things that aren’t in the books.
What have you tried to add?
I’ve tried to understand where her anger comes from. In the books, Shirley is very angry and ragey. We’ve tried to make her a bit more human.
In London Rules, there’s a lot of detail about Shirley: 62 days clean of drugs, how many anger-management sessions she’s attended, the wrap of cocaine she carries in her pocket to celebrate the end of her treatment… As an actor, are they almost like stage directions for you?
Yes. I remember reading all that in the book and thinking, “How do you show that?” You can’t have a camera in her pocket. But there’s a scene with River that lets us know it’s there and then you know why she often keeps a hand in that pocket. Her relationship with River becomes very important in this series.
But it’s a platonic relationship — as are others between men and women in the show. This is still relatively rare in TV shows, isn’t it?
Yes, it’s really refreshing. You don’t see many platonic male-female relationships on TV. There’s an expectation of sex and romance. But chemistry and sparks can be all sorts of things.
Tom Brooke plays JK Coe
Tom Brooke as JK Coe, with Jack Dowden. Apple TV+
Christopher Chung tells us he’s read all the books to find out what happens to his character. Have you done the same?
I have now! I have to admit that initially I turned the role down. I said: “He doesn’t do anything.” And they said, “No, he does a lot later on,” to which I said, “I’ve heard that before!” Luckily, my wife had read the books. She said, “You idiot, you need to call them back immediately.”
JK Coe does initially seem like a minor character. But as often happens in this series, he becomes more important later on.
Yes. Will Smith was extraordinarily gracious in our first conversation. He said, “You’ve read these books just now, I read them three years ago. If there’s anything you think should be in, just tell me.” I thought he was just being nice, but I asked for a couple of things and in they went.
What did you ask for?
I asked why the phrase “electric carving knife” had been cut from a speech that was in the book. And there was another one where Coe had a knife and I asked if it could be a push-knife. They both went in.
You seem to know a lot about knives...
That is weird, isn’t it? But I do. My parents let me collect them when I was young. Then, when I became a teenager, they vanished from the house. I think my parents probably thought, “Enough!”
Did you also get to meet Mick Herron?
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I met him on my last day. It was going to be before then, but it never happened. Mick told me that Coe is the character who’s most like him.
Authors
Mark Lawson
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