Jackson Lamb named top small‑screen spy in Guardian’s Top 20 list

The Guardian has compiled a Top 20 of small‑screen spies and placed Jackson Lamb, Gary Oldman’s disgraced MI5 handler from Slow Horses, at number one.

The countdown spans decades and genres, from camp and comic figures to hard‑edged realist operatives. It includes classic characters such as Napoleon Solo and John Steed, Cold War and literary types like George Smiley and Elizabeth Jennings, modern antiheroes and procedurals such as Jack Bauer and Carrie Mathison, and more recent entries including Jonathan Pine, Tamar Rabinyan and the reinvigorated Danger Mouse.

The piece notes current TV activity around the genre — Tom Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine appears in The Night Manager and the article mentions Netflix’s The Night Agent returning in February — and presents the list as a snapshot of how espionage drama continues to feature across schedules and eras.

Key Topics

Culture, Jackson Lamb, Slow Horses, Gary Oldman, Jonathan Pine