Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson in 'Down Cemetery Road' Apple TV+ Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text The newest ebook edition of Slow Horses author Mick Herron's novel Down Cemetery Road begins with a foreword by Emma Thompson. She recalls first coming across one of Herron's books on a London bookstore's "staff recommends" shelf and tearing through it, after which "I instantly read the rest of his work," she writes. Thompson is now starring in an Apple TV series based on Down Cemetery Road, and Herron says he's delighted the Oscar and Emmy winner signed on to the series. "She was certainly very enthusiastic when she heard that it was being made," Herron tells The Hollywood Reporter of Thompson's involvement; in addition to playing private investigator Zoë Boehm, Thompson is also an executive producer. "And obviously, she's been an absolutely wonderful Zoë. But yes, it turns out that she had read the books beforehand, both these books and the Slow Horses books, so she knew what she was being asked to do, if you like, and was very enthusiastic about it. I can't express how lucky I feel that this came to pass." Related Stories TV 'Down Cemetery Road' Review: Emma Thompson Shines as a Razor-Tongued Gumshoe in an Apple TV Drama with 'Slow Horses' Vibes (if Not 'Slow Horses' Consistency) Audio Excerpt Cameron Crowe Recalls Young Sean Penn Giving an Acting Masterclass on 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' Set Down Cemetery Road, which premiered Wednesday on Apple TV, kicks off with a house exploding in a neighborhood in Oxford, England, that kills two occupants but leaves a little girl alive. A neighbor, Sarah Trafford (Ruth Wilson), wants to help the girl but finds herself picking at the edges of a conspiracy involving a military cover-up. She enlists Zoë's help, and the two women - both separately and together - try to both find the girl and unravel just why so many people are trying to keep them from doing so. Down Cemetery Road is Herron's first novel, published in 2003. He wrote three more books featuring Zoë and Sarah before beginning the Slough House series of spy novels. Those books, now numbering eight (plus several novellas), have been adapted as Apple TV's Emmy-winning series Slow Horses, whose fifth season concluded Wednesday (Apple has ordered two more seasons). Herron, who's also an executive producer of Down Cemetery Road, spoke with THR about revisiting his first novel, how involved he gets in adapting his work and the possible futures for both the new series and Slow Horses. I'm curious what it's been like for you to revisit your first novel in the process of the show getting made. Mick Herron Jo Howard It was a very happy experience, which wasn't something I necessarily took for granted. This book was published in 2003, but I started writing it a good six or seven years before that. So it's a long time ago now, 30 years, and it does feel like I was a different person when I wrote it. I was certainly living a different sort of life, and I did wonder whether it would stand up to anything, because I haven't revisited it very often. But I was very, very happy with what the producers, the writers and the cast did. But also, I found that I look back on the book very fondly, because it was my first-born, as it were, but I wasn't sure whether it would stand up to scrutiny. I think by and large, I'm still very happy with it. How involved do you get in the adaptations of your work, and how often do you talk with, in this instance, [lead writer] Morwenna Banks and the other writers? I spent time in the writers room, and I'm involved in the adaptation process, rather than the writing. I'm separating the two - when I say adaptation, I mean the business of changing the plot in order to make it into a TV show, right? I'm part of that process, and then the writers go off and do all the dialogue and so on. It was very straightforward and very enjoyable for me. I knew Morwenna well from having worked with her on Slow Horses, so I was delighted when this all started taking off and I knew that Morwenna was going to be the lead writer. And indeed, the whole experience has proved wonderful on those grounds. I talk to Morwenna a lot. She shows me the scripts. She's very happy to listen to anything I have to say about them - I have very little to say about them because I think they're terrific. Since the book is set around the time it was published, what did you and the writers talk about in terms of bringing it into the present day? It's technically an historical novel now, I wrote it so long ago. There are a lot of the very obvious things - I don't think any of my characters [in the book] had mobile phones, for instance. So all of that sort of thing has to be dealt with, which does make some situations very different. Politically as well,