From Spook Street to Joe Country

Claude (he/him) artist and fanfiction writer bedroomcarnival on AO3

[hr-twink]

The Timeline ™️

ok i made notes when reading the books to make a timeline because… i had to

just note that the show moved the TL up like 2 years

Book TL:

Pre Book 1:

Black mountains training Spider was 24

Year before book 1 Spider and River inseparable.

@saulbetter addition: river and spider are the same age. the 'inseparable' for a year doesn't specify if that was in training or already working at the Park (the training exercise was an 'upgrade assessment'). spider took a 'graduate route' to become Mi5 which is mentioned to take two years (I assume this includes all of training). in book 1 spider is described as 'under 30', so mid-late twenties?

Book 1: October. evidence: Sid joined “2 months ago in august”. River has been at SH for 8months 2weeks and 4 days. Making Kings Cross february ish.

Book 2: early to end April, a “few months after” last book. River is in Upshott for 3 weeks.

Book 3: August, a year since the last book. Heavily implied to be 2015 from Donovans timeline.

Book 4: January 2-6th. A “few months” since last book.

———

SHOW TL:

Pre season 1:

Spiders Monitor in 1x01 of the fiasco training exercise says July 20- if we go by the books “8 months in SH” thing Stansted was probably in June 2015

Season 1- February 2016

“Its February!”-Struan

Season 2- Late August 2016

Summer vibes (ice cream/fans)

Dickie's Coroners report say 22nd August 2016

Min’s plaque says 2016

Season 3- August 16-17th 2017

CCTV in 3x02 says 2017-08-17

River's watch shows the date as 17

"Waste and Recycling info 2017/18" Flyer on Louisa's fridge 3x01

Season 4- January 2-6 2018

January 2nd: Westacres

The Incident happens the night of the 4th

False ID, Les Arbes, Return journey, all happen on 5th

Cold Bodies were created “28 years ago”. River is born in 1990–making him 27/8.

Season 5- May 11-14th 2018

Abbotsfield happens the morning of May 11th

Catherine texts Lamb at 23:41 on Fri. May 11 at the club (ep1)

Eps 2–5 happen on May 12th

Lamb texts River at 22:46 on Sat. May 12 (ep5)

Ep 6 is mainly Sun. May 13th (sunday lunch w david)

Ep 6 coda is Mon. May 14th (Lamb says River saved Whelan 'yesterday')

[hr-twink]

Updated with season 5 dates :)

[greenssupremacy]

New 🔥

First look production images of Freddie Fox for High Society ahead of the Press Night on 3 June at The Barbican Theatre until 11 July.

[thealdersgateoffice]

Young Jackson Lamb and Catherine Standish 🐌🐎

[part i] | [part ii] | [part iii] | [part iv] | [part v] | [part vi] | [part vii] | [part viii] | [part ix] | [part x] | [part xi] | [part xii] | [part xiii] | [part xiv] | [part xv] | [part xvi] | [part xvii] | [part xviii] | [part xix]| [part xx] | [part xxi] | [part xxii]| [part xxiii] | [part xxiv] | [part xxv] | [part xxvi] | [part xxvii]| [part xxviii] | [part xxix] | [part xxx] | [part xxxi] | [part xxxii] | [part xxxiii] | [part xxxiv] | [part xxxv] | [part xxxvi] | [part xxxvii] | [part xxxviii] | [part xxxix] | [part xl]

[tinkertailorsoldierguy]

i made a sequel:

5 minutes of people insulting river personally and telling him how much they dislike him and pointing out all the way he sucks and his life sucks

[snoopyhalfreturn]

she was so done that day

[thealdersgateoffice]

How ‘Slow Horses’ Moves So Fast

The Apple TV series puts the languid production pace of other shows to shame.

Season 8 to start filming in June? 🐌🐎

“Slow Horses” exists in the same environment as other streaming shows. But its process has guided it successfully so far. And audiences won’t have to wait long for season six, which is already complete. Or season seven, which has finished filming. Or season eight, which starts filming in June. After what, for “Slow Horses,” is an unusually long delay, Mr. Urbanski said.

[caffeinechic]

slow horses ficlet

oh just trying to get the muscles working again

Post End S4

----

The shouting from Lamb’s office rattled what was left of the windows from his floor down to Ho’s. Moira stopped what she was doing to look upwards, waiting for the floor to collapse. 

Catherine, four months absent, but twenty years in the black of Jackson Lamb’s moods simply carried on. 

Footsteps on the stairs, lighter than Lamb but heavy with intent. 

Coe’s hood was up, earphones dangling. He wouldn’t make eye contact with her, simply stood there until Catherine registered his presence.

“Sorry.” He said “For shooting him in front of you.”

Catherine considered for a moment. Her mouth tightened to a hard line, a single nod in Coe’s direction. There was nothing to be said that could undo his actions, that would wipe the memory of it away. She had no forgiveness for him. There were other things that needed her attention.

“I need to get the bucket.”

“Oh - yes - it’s over there.” Catherine pulled the bucket from the under the sink, handed it over. 

“J.K. - I was there too?” Moira said. 

Coe paused at the door.

“He didn’t mention you.” 

He disappeared back up the stairs.

[unlikely-and-inaccurate]

just a girl, minding her own business. thinking about how she met her current boss of twenty-years, on a given tuesday morning while making tea.

[lorquiana]

the thing i dont think i appreciated about slow horses s3 until now is the sheer amount of caffeine louisa consumes in one (1) day (five coffees. if we take her at her word.)

^this is not only someone dealing with the fact that her job just tried to have her killed but also the worst caffeine crash of her entire life

[hyper-fics-sationn]

If anyone’s interested, I met Gary Oldman again tonight and asked him a question that’s been burning inside me for a while…

“If it were up to you, would you rather Jackson end up with Standish or Diana?”

He paused, stared into the distance of contemplation for a few moments, then leaned forward and whispered…

“Standish.”

And then he giggled, and then I passed away xoxox

Gary Oldman is officially a Lambdish shipper, pass it on 😚

[joepickett]

Slow Horses 2.01

[tenderlywicked]

River Cartwright wants to be useful... but not when his assignments are boring. By "being useful" he usually means a lot of running, playing hide-and-seek, and maybe getting beaten up once in a while :)

[donniata]

Have you ever tried using your stature to intimidate someone? How many times has just standing up been enough to make them feel small?

[tenderlywicked]

River Cartwright: failing charisma checks on a regular basis :)

[joecountry]

His lack of charm and tact beguiles me. Mostly because I'm not on the receiving end 😅

[slow-horses-of-slough-house]

River Cartwright in Slow Horses, s1e1

[joecountry]

Sorry I'm drooling over gif 1.

Also what a smarmy wee bastard he is in gif 6. The little smirk, piss off.

[thealdersgateoffice]

Christopher Chung and Saskia Reeves attending the Royal Television Society Awards 2026 🐌🐎

📸 @chrispchung on Instagram

[ohgodthebrainworms]

The main reason why River is such tumblr/fanfic catnip (in a good way) is that his entire personality is basically just yearning. He wants so many things, and they're all things he either will never have again (his granddad being okay), won't get and shouldn't want (to be a proper MI5 agent), is trying to get from the wrong people (a father figure), or possibly could have but is completely fucking up (close friendship).

The show gives him so much want, and then slowly moves him further and further away from fulfilling any of it. It's so good.