Slow Horses pays subtle tribute to Gary Oldman’s The Dark Knight co-star Heath Ledger

Oldman and Ledger both starred in Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed 2008 Batman movie

Gary Oldman seemingly paid tribute to his late The Dark Knight co-star Heath Ledger in a recent episode of Slow Horses.

Oldman and Ledger both appeared in Christopher Nolan’s much-loved 2008 Batman film, starring as Officer James Gordon and the villainous Joker respectively.

In one of the film’s most shocking and memorable scenes, Ledger’s Joker asks: “How about a magic trick?” before sticking a pencil into a table. “I’m going to make this pencil disappear,” he says.

When a mobster approaches to confront him, Ledger smashes his head face-first onto the pencil. “Ta-da!” says Joker. “It’s gone.”

Ledger died in 2008, at the age of just 28. Oldman, 67, is currently appearing in the thriller series Slow Horses on Apple TV+, playing curmudgeonly spy chief Jackson Lamb.

As SlashFilm reports, in the recent season 5 episode “Incommunicado”, one of Lamb’s underlings asks him why he has to write messages while his colleague is allowed to speak.

Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb in ‘Slow Horses’ (Apple TV+)

Heath Ledger as the Joker in ‘The Dark Knight’ (YouTube/DC)

Lamb replies: “Because she sticks to the salient points, whereas when you talk, I wanna stick a pencil in my eye and head-butt the table,”

The writers of Slow Horses have not publicly commented on the line. The Independent has approached a representative for showrunner Will Smith for comment.

The fifth season of Slow Horses has been widely praised by critics. In a five-star review for The Independent, critic Chris Bennion wrote: “The performances remain superb, the script is as sharp as they come, and the comedy/action balance is handled beautifully. And Lamb really is God’s gift (albeit to television, not women).

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“He is satisfyingly bad-tempered this season – yes, even more so than usual – with every other phrase out of his mouth being ‘F*** off’. In fact, all the inhabitants of Slough House seem especially cretinous and mildewed in these episodes. It works a charm. Elsewhere, Victoria Hamilton provides a winning cameo as a blowhard tabloid columnist, while the descent into dementia of River’s grandfather David (Jonathan Pryce) is heartbreaking.

“With Smith leaving – screenwriter Gaby Chiappe is taking up the reins – it remains to be seen if Slow Horses can maintain its sky-high standards. But look what Chiappe has got to work with – the best group of characters on British TV.”

Last month, Oldman revealed he was overcome with emotion when he received a knighthood from Prince Williams at Windsor Castle.

“I wasn’t nervous but when I got there... It took me a second to find my voice because I was surprised by how emotional I was,” said Oldman.