Slow Horses S6E5: Kyle Soller and director Adam Randall discuss the episode's action scenes
Ahead of the season 6 finale, Collider interviewed Kyle Soller about the woodland and lake fight in episode 5, and Radio Times spoke to director Adam Randall about the airfield cliffhanger.
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The story, neutrally told
Centre · 2Two entertainment outlets published interviews on 14 October 2026 about episode 5 of Slow Horses season 6, the penultimate episode of the Apple TV spy thriller; both contain spoilers. ColliderN “With only one episode left, Slow Horses Season 6 has crossed into surprising new territory” Read at Collider ↗ Radio TimesN “The fifth and penultimate episode of Slow Horses season 6 came to a dramatic ending” Read at Radio Times ↗ Centre · 1Collider spoke to Kyle Soller, who plays the Russian assassin Jim, about episode 5, titled "Sayonara". In it River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) tries to rescue Sid Baker (Olivia Cooke) from Jim and Jane (MyAnna Buring). ColliderN “Episode 5, "Sayonara," is already teeing up a big-time showdown in the finale”“River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) stops at nothing to rescue Sid Baker (Olivia Cooke) from the clutches of Russian assassins Jim (Kyle Soller) and Jane (MyAnna Buring)” Read at Collider ↗ Centre · 1Soller described filming Jim's final confrontation with River and Sid as "cold, wet, and unforgiving". He said the sequence moves from a service station into "a horror film, with the classic run through the woods", and he praised the stunt team and fight direction. ColliderN “Tick, tick, tick — cold, wet, and unforgiving, which I think you probably could say about the entire season.”“The stunt team was incredible, and the fight direction was amazing” Read at Collider ↗
Centre · 1Soller said the scene mixes River's grief over his grandfather with Jim's belief that Jane has died as Jim tries to drown Sid in a lake, and that it "feels like a little short film, almost". He called it hard but really great, and said it was important to make the fight "sloppy and messy". ColliderN “You have Jim's grief of thinking Jane has just died as he's trying to kill Sid and drown her in the lake, and looking at the swans.”“making it sloppy and messy” Read at Collider ↗ Centre · 1In the same interview Soller talked about building Jim and Jane's relationship with Buring, including a hint of teenage-style attraction that goes beyond the books. He also discussed the episode 4 toilet fight with Tom Brooke's Coe, a scene Brooke reworked from Mick Herron's text, and named the bowling alley as a favourite location. He added that some scenes between Jim and Jane were cut, which he thought was probably so viewers would not learn who the pair work for. ColliderN “much more three-dimensional than what's written in the book”“Tom went back to the text that Mick [Herron] wrote and came up with a version of the scene”“You think they might be attached to Harkness, or Damien Cantor.” Read at Collider ↗ Centre · 1Radio Times covered a different scene, the episode's closing cliffhanger. River steals a car to save Sid from being sent to Bulgaria and handed to the Russians. He lets her escape on foot across an airfield while he distracts the Park agents, and the two share a kiss before he drives away. Radio TimesN “River made a bold move in order to save Sid from being sent to Bulgaria, to be handed to the Russians.”“River then stopped the car and allowed Sid to escape on foot, while he distracted the Park agents surrounding the vehicle.” Read at Radio Times ↗
Centre · 1Director Adam Randall called the airfield sequence his "absolute favourite" of the six episodes. He said the team lost the original location eight days before shooting and had to rewrite the scene, and that much of Lowden's and Cooke's dialogue and action was improvised, giving it "a kind of indie film quality". Radio TimesN “with just eight days ahead of that scene being shot, the team lost their original location, and had to re-write the scene to fit the new surroundings.”“So it had a kind of indie film quality to it, even though it's a massive show.” Read at Radio Times ↗ Centre · 1Randall said the scene combines action, tension and humour with a genuine emotional pull because the two characters are "torn apart". Radio Times added that Slow Horses has been renewed for seasons 7 and 8, with Randall returning for season 8, and that one episode remains in season 6. Radio TimesN “it feels genuinely emotional”“Slow Horses has already been renewed for seasons 7 and 8, with Randall returning for the eighth instalment.” Read at Radio Times ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets run spoiler-flagged promotional interviews with people behind the show's action scenes, treating the episode as a highlight. Collider leads with the cast's experience of a gruelling stunt shoot; Radio Times leads with the director's account of a last-minute location change.
- Emphasis
- Collider stresses character work, the cold and wet shoot, and the stunt team. Radio Times stresses the emotional weight of the cliffhanger, the improvisation, and the renewal for seasons 7 and 8.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Each covers a different scene (the woodland and lake fight versus the airfield escape), so neither gives the other's account. Neither includes critical or dissenting views.
- Charged language
- “Most Harrowing Moment”“unforgivably cold”“thrilling”
- For example
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“filming that unforgivably cold stunt sequence with Jack Lowden and Olivia Cooke” — Collider
“Slow Horses director breaks down that thrilling episode 5 cliffhanger” — Radio Times
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Episode 5 is the penultimate episode of Slow Horses season 6 on Apple TV, with new episodes on Wednesdays.
- Lowden's River and Cooke's Sid are central to the episode's closing action.
- Both outlets present the episode's action sequences as highlights of the season.
Kyle Soller person
Soller describes the shoot as cold, wet and demanding but rewarding, credits the stunt and fight teams, and says he valued building the relationship between Jim and Jane.
“It was hard, but really great.” — Collider
“The stunt team was incredible, and the fight direction was amazing” — Collider
North America1 outlet
Collider runs a long Q&A focused on actor craft and stunt work, mainly in the actor's own words.
“Collider spoke with Soller about building Jim and Jane's complicated relationship with Buring” — Collider
Collider
UK and Ireland1 outlet
Radio Times runs a shorter director-led piece with a plot recap, production trivia and renewal news.
“Slow Horses has already been renewed for seasons 7 and 8, with Randall returning for the eighth instalment.” — Radio Times
Radio Times
Left0 articles
No coverage yet.
Centre2 articles
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'Slow Horses' Star Reacts to Episode 5's Most Harrowing Moment: "You're in a Horror Film"
Celebratory Q&A interview with Kyle Soller that presents the episode's climactic fight as a harrowing, horror-film-like highlight and praises the craft behind it.
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Slow Horses director breaks down that thrilling episode 5 cliffhanger
Celebratory Short interview-based piece in which director Adam Randall praises the airfield cliffhanger as emotional and thrilling despite a last-minute location loss.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 14 Oct 08:00 First ColliderN 'Slow Horses' Star Reacts to Episode 5's Most Harrowing Moment: "You're in a Horror Film"
- 14 Oct 09:00 +1h 1m Radio TimesN Slow Horses director breaks down that thrilling episode 5 cliffhanger
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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