“I argued very strongly that we shouldn’t play Another Brick In The Wall at the school fête, as it was disrespectful. Oh God! That was me”: Slow Horses showrunner Will Smith’s record collection

A portrait of Will Smith with his records.

English stand-up comedian Will Smith co-wrote and co-starred in The Thick Of It before working on the political comedy’s US counterpart Veep, then went on to create and run spy thriller series Slow Horses. In 2020 he offered Prog a glimpse of his record collection.

For me, prog starts with Marillion; and growing up in St Clement, Jersey, Clutching At Straws was my first Marillion record. I saw Lavender on Top Of The Pops when Fish had just lost his voice, so instead of miming, he got the audience to sing. I was hugely into comedy at the time and I couldn’t believe there was a band with someone in them who looked so much like Mel Smith!