Slow Horses makers set to bring British detective back to television over 3 decades after beloved BBC show

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As a longtime fan of the genre, I’ve noticed a real trend lately – a lot of classic detective series are getting revamped for a new audience. We’ve already seen it with shows like Lynley, and Dalziel and Pascoe is on the way. Now it looks like another beloved series is joining the reboot club.

See-Saw Films, the company that made the popular Apple TV series Slow Horses, is creating a new TV show based on the Lovejoy novels. The books were previously adapted into a well-loved BBC series.

Ian McShane played the lead in a previous TV series based on the books, which aired for six seasons from 1986 to 1994. The Lovejoy novels, written by John Grant using the name Jonathan Gash, were published over a thirty-year period, from 1977 to 2008.

The stories, both the novels and the TV series, took place in East Anglia and centered around Lovejoy, an antiques expert with a knack for spotting fakes. He frequently used his skills to solve crimes and stop criminals.

See-Saw Films acquired the rights to the Lovejoy novels after a competitive bidding process last year, according to Deadline. The company plans to create a new version of the stories, moving away from the feel of the 1980s TV show and focusing on the more raw and adventurous elements of the original books.

As a big fan of the Lovejoy novels and show, I was reading about Jonathan Gash, and his agent, Lisa Moylett, really hit the nail on the head. She described Lovejoy as a brilliantly drawn character – not a typical hero at all, but someone flawed and complex. Gash created a real anti-hero, and did it with incredibly sharp writing and stories that just pulled you right into the fascinating, and sometimes murky, world of antiques.

The most important thing for any new version of the story was to stay true to the original books. See-Saw, with Lisa Gilchrist and Helen Gregory leading the way, brilliantly showed how to keep the books’ cleverness and energy while making them relevant for modern viewers.

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In addition to creating Slow Horses, See-Saw Films has a strong track record with shows like Heartstopper, Sweetpea, Apple Cider Vinegar, and The Essex Serpent. They’ve also produced successful films such as One Life, The Power of the Dog, and The King’s Speech.

The original Lovejoy series featured a talented cast including Chris Jury, Dudley Sutton, Phyllis Logan, Malcolm Tierney, Diane Parish, and Caroline Langrishe, alongside McShane.

Authors

James HibbsDrama Writer

James Hibbs writes about TV dramas for TopMob, covering shows on streaming services and traditional channels. Before becoming a writer, he worked in public relations, first at a business-to-business agency and then at Fremantle, an international TV production company. He has a BA degree in English and Theatre Studies, as well as a Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.

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2026-03-04 18:47