Spy Series ‘Slow Horses’ Renewed for Season 5

The espionage series, adapted from Mick Herron’s novels, has been a big success for the streaming service, and most recently finished its third season.

Gary Oldman in 'Slow Horses' season 2, premiering December 2, 2022 on Apple TV+.

Preview:

Apple TV+ has renewed ‘Slow Horses’ for a fifth season.
The show, starring Gary Oldman, adapts Mick Herron’s novels.
This new season will see bizarre events happening around London.

They might not be considered the best of the best when it comes to MI5’s roster, but the denizens of Slough House are certainly proving successful for Apple TV+, proving to be one of the breakout hits for the tech giant’s streaming service.

Which is to say that across three seasons (so far), ‘Slow Horses’ the Gary Oldman-starring series have scored plenty of critical praise and won lots of fans.

It’s hardly surprising then, that after rolling out renewals for the third and fourth seasons as a block (the third just launched its finale on December 27th), Apple TV+ has handed down a fifth season order almost as quickly.

What is ‘Slow Horses’?

Gary Oldman in 'Slow Horses' season 3 premiering November 29, 2023 on Apple TV+.

‘Slow Horses’ is adapted from Mick Herron’s eponymous novel series, which is also known as ‘Slough House’, named for the low-rent MI5 office our heroes work from.

Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but misanthropic leader of the spies, who end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes as they frequently find themselves blundering around the smoke and mirrors of the espionage world.

Yet for all their issues, the team frequently proves to be much more effective than any of their colleagues suspect, with Lamb a crafty genius who uses his off-putting, cantankerous exterior to thwart expectations. There are times when the Horses are the last line of defence between the UK and some serious threats.

What’s the story of ‘Slow Horses’ Season 5?

Christopher Chung stars in the third season of 'Slow Horses,' coming to Apple TV+ on Friday, December 1, 2023.

Season 5 adapts Herron’s fifth book, ‘London Rules’, and the story finds the team suspicious when resident tech nerd Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) has a glamorous new girlfriend, but when a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city, it falls to the Slow Horses to work out how everything is connected.

After all, Jackson Lamb knows that in the world of espionage, “London Rules” should always apply.

Who else is in ‘Slow Horses’?

Jack Lowden returns for the third season of 'Slow Horses,' coming to Apple TV+ on Friday, December 1, 2023.

The cast also includes Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Freddie Fox, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan, Jonathan Pryce and Sophie Okonedo.

No information is available about any cast additions for Season 5.

When will ‘Slow Horses’ Season 5 be on our screens?

Given that Season 4 has yet to launch (it has no official premiere date yet, but showrunner Will Smith has promised it’ll be sometime in 2024), there is zero information on the fifth as of yet. Add to that the fact that it still has to film, and we’ll be waiting for a while.