Slow Horses Season 5: Cast, Story & Everything We Know (2024)

Apple TV+'s spy series Slow Horses is returning for yet another case in season 5, and there are already a ton of exciting updates about the new episodes. Debuting in 2022 and based on Mick Herron's novels, Slow Horses chronicles the misadventures of MI5's worst agents as they are relegated to the infamous Slough House. Though expected to push papers and have no real purpose, the determined agents often find themselves in the mix of some of the biggest threats that endanger Great Britain. Anchored by the legendary Gary Oldman, Slow Horses revolutionizes the spy thriller by being character-driven.

Though each season has been an exciting ride, season 4 kicked off with a literal bang as a terrorist plot puts the lives of Slough House agents in mortal danger. Adapting Herron's novel, Spook Street, season 4 is a clear escalation of the series, and Apple TV+ has proven to be fully invested in the ongoing narrative. Season 5 has already been renewed, and considering the show's uncanny ability to stay on schedule, will likely arrive sooner rather than later. On top of that, Apple has also confirmed that the next outing will be based on Mick Herron's London Rules.

Slow Horses Season 5 Latest News

Filming Is Already Completed

Even as all eyes are on season 4's debut, the latest news confirms that Slow Horses season 5 is already done filming. The news was broken by Gary Oldman himself in an interview discussing the fourth outing, and while talking about where Lamb and his team are headed, he couldn't help but hype up season 5. "We’ve just finished filming Season 5 and there’s another layer of the onion that is peeled back with Lamb," revealed Oldman, though exactly what that layer is remains unseen. It has also been confirmed that Mick Herron's fifth book, London Rules, will be the subject of season 5.

Read Oldman's full comment below:

“We’ve had a Christmas break. You’ll notice there’s bits of tinsel that are hanging … and then there’s a dried-up Christmas tree. They’ve made half an effort to take them down. And Lamb has been on a bender. So that’s when you first meet me. I’ve probably had three days on the booze. Christmas drinks alone, more than likely in my house. And you just see a glimpse of where I live. But that’s the first time we see that, where you actually see Lamb outside of Slough House. And there’s lots good stuff coming up.”

“We’ve just finished filming Season 5 and there’s another layer of the onion that is peeled back with Lamb. You find out a little bit more about what went on and then that’s information that you can then think, ‘Oh, that would explain that.’ Or, ‘This is why he’s like he is.’ But honestly and truly, you go to Mick Herron and I don’t quite know if I’d really believe him, but you go to Mick Herron and you say, ‘Tell me a little bit about Lamb.’ And he goes, ‘I don’t really know.’ He said, ‘If I haven’t written it, then I don’t know.’”

Slow Horses Season 5 Is Confirmed

Apple TV+ Renewed Season 5 Before Season 4 Debuted

Despite the fact that Slow Horses season 4's debut is still so fresh, the fate of the next season has long since been decided. The news broke in January 2024 that Apple TV+ had renewed Slow Horses season 5, a full nine months before the eventual debut of season 4. This extreme vote of confidence proves the ongoing popularity of the spy thriller series, but also signals Apple's commitment to keeping the show on a tight schedule.

Though Slow Horses season 5 hasn't set a release date yet, there's little doubt that it will arrive within 2025, and probably less than a year after the debut of season 4. Unlike other streaming-exclusive shows which languished in production hell for years between seasons (Stranger Things, House of the Dragon), Slow Horses has arrived at a yearly clip, and sometimes sooner. In August 2024, Gary Oldman revealed that the fifth season of Slow Horses has already wrapped filming.

Slow Horses Season 5 Cast Details

Who Returns To Slough House?

It's impossible to know exactly who will be in the cast of Slow Horses season 5 for now, but there are a few candidates who are a shoo-in. Practically confirmed to be leading season 5 is series stalwart Gary Oldman as the crotchety Slough House leader, Jackson Lamb. Jack Lowden will also likely be back as young agent River Cartwright, alongside other Slough House regulars like Christopher Chung's Roddy Ho. The series has also employed a host of amazing guest stars (like season 4's Hugo Weaving), but it's unclear who will be filling the new roles in season 5's story.

The presumptive cast of Slow Horses season 5 includes:

Actor	Slow Horses Role
Gary Oldman	Jackson Lamb
Jack Lowden	River Cartwright
Kristin Scott Thomas	Diana Taverner
Saskia Reeves	Catherine Standish
Rosalind Eleazar	Louisa Guy
Christopher Chung	Roddy Ho
Aimee-Ffion Edwards	Shirley Dander
Kadiff Kirwan	Marcus Longridge
Joanna Scanlan	Moira Tregorian
Tom Brooke	J.K. Coe
Jonathan Pryce	David Cartwright

Slow Horses Season 5 Story Details

Season 5 Will Adapt "London Rules"

In keeping with the show's book-per-season approach, season 5 is set to tackle Herron's fifth novel, London Rules. In the book, an upstart MP is going on a political rampage as he, and his tabloid journalist wife, set their sights on MI5 and their many foibles. Meanwhile, a series of seemingly random terrorist attacks point back to the aspiring mayor of the West Midlands. Back at Slough House, the team is dealing with their usual personal problems, but are also trying to decipher if their newest member is a legitimate psychopath.

On top of all that, someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho, and it is up to the team to band together (as best they can) and get to the bottom of the would-be assassin. Though it's unclear how closely the season will follow the book, London Rules is decidedly more political and involves issues like Brexit and immigration. Slow Horses season 5 seems like a big step-up for the popular spy series, and each new detail makes it sound more and more exciting.

Slow Horses

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Slow Horses is an adaptation of CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning Mick Herron’s first novel in the "Slow Horses" series, which follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 – Slough House. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but irascible leader of the spies who end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes.

Cast

Jonathan Pryce , Kristin Scott Thomas , Jack Lowden , Gary Oldman , Saskia Reeves , Chris Reilly , Rosalind Eleazar , Christopher Chung , Olivia Cooke

Release Date

April 1, 2022

Seasons

4

Streaming Service(s)

Apple TV+

Writers

Will Smith , Mark Denton , Morwenna Banks