A big hit for Apple TV+, the darkly comedic spy thriller Slow Horses returned Wednesday with the first episode of its fifth season. Once again it’s off to a fast start, making London look like a bloody shooting gallery. And it appears the season will echo contemporary themes of nationalistic fervor and immigration backlash.
How will Slough House section chief Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his beleaguered team of B-team spies react, especially when one of their number may be compromised?
Slow Horses season 5 trailer packs in action and humor
September 3, 2025: London comes under a vicious series of attacks from unknown forces in Slow Horses season 5, according to the action-packed trailer Apple TV+ dropped Wednesday. And it looks for all the world like self-important doofus Roddy Ho — IT guy at Slough House, MI5’s remedial branch for screw-up agents — is involved. No one can believe his glamorous new “girlfriend” isn’t playing him.
Can Slough House section chief Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his crew of misfit spies rise to the occasion again? Tune in Wednesday, September 24, for the first episode on Apple TV+. Watch the teaser below.
Thrilling trailer
The new trailer for Slow Horses season five is one of the most exciting teases Apple TV+ has released for the show, based on Mick Herron’s excellent Slough House series of eight novels. As a person who devoured early seasons of the dark-humored show right along with all of the books, I have to ask: Is the show’s need to top itself now going too far?
I wouldn’t be the first to suggest it. A Cult of Mac colleague scoffed that the show had “jumped the shark” as early as season three, with its rampaging carnage. At the time, I felt the show followed the books pretty faithfully, mainly pumping up the visuals a bit. But as I watched the new trailer, I couldn’t help but wonder how the whole world decided to expend so much effort and firepower on destroying England (revenge, apparently, as the trailer implies). And over the course of the show, the sheer number of times MI5 turns on its own with extreme prejudice does sometimes exceed believability.
In the new season, the mayhem is so extreme the acting chief of MI5 says bodies rain from the sky. “This is the apocalypse,” he declares.
So maybe it’s a bit over the top. And yet I can’t wait to watch the new season. At this point, I can barely even recall the books anyway, having swallowed them like popcorn during season one of the show (2022). Watch the trailer, and read more about the new season and the series below.
Watch the Slow Horses season 5 trailer
Slow Horses season 5 premieres on Apple TV+ September 24
June 3, 2025: Apple TV+ unveiled a first look Tuesday at the upcoming fifth season of its Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning espionage drama Slow Horses. It stars Academy Award winner Gary Oldman. The “look” is just a photo of typically rumpled and dyspeptic MI5 section chief Jackson Lamb, Oldman’s character — but at least it comes with a premiere date. And it looks like he might be dining in a slightly nicer restaurant than usual. It even provides napkins.
Photo: Apple TV+
The six-episode season will premiere on Wednesday, September 24. As usual, the first two episodes drop together. Then weekly releases follow through October 22, Apple TV+ said.
The darkly comedic spy thriller continues its remarkable streak as Apple TV+’s longest-running series by season count, even as the streaming service has already green-lit a sixth season. This rapid production schedule has become a hallmark of the show, with filming for season 6 already underway even as season 4 recently concluded in October. And you can read a plot synopsis and watch a season five trailer, included below.
Tech nerd Roddy Ho takes center stage
Season five, adapted from Mick Herron’s novel London Rules in his CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning Slough House book series, puts the spotlight on resident tech expert Roddy Ho. Christopher Chung plays him. The new season finds everyone suspicious when Ho suddenly acquires a glamorous new girlfriend. It’s a development that longtime spy fiction fans will recognize as a classic “honey trap” setup.
“When a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city, it falls to the Slow Horses to work out how everything is connected,” the streamer revealed. “After all, Lamb knows that in the world of espionage, the London Rules — cover your back — always apply.” Look up the London Rules and other spook terminology.
The season’s plot involves protecting Britain’s Prime Minister amid political turmoil and terror attacks, Apple TV+ noted. It also delves deeper into Jackson Lamb’s mysterious past and how the former Cold War operative ended up running the MI5 dumping ground known as Slough House.
Star-studded cast returns with new additions
Oldman returns as the brilliant but cantankerous Lamb, a performance that has earned him Golden Globe, Emmy and BAFTA Award nominations. The ensemble cast includes Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as the scheming Lady Di Taverner. Emmy Award nominee Jack Lowden stars as River Cartwright. And Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Ruth Bradley, James Callis, Tom Brooke and Academy Award nominee Jonathan Pryce round out the great cast.
Season 5 will also welcome Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed as a special guest star, adding to the show’s impressive roster of British talent.
Watch the season 5 teaser trailer:
Critical acclaim and awards recognition
The series has maintained its status as what one critic called “undoubtedly the best spy series on television.” All four existing seasons hold Certified Fresh scores on Rotten Tomatoes. And two seasons achieved a rare perfect 100% critics’ score. The globally acclaimed third season earned nine Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
This critical success has translated into rapid renewals. Apple TV+ continued its pattern of greenlighting future seasons well before current ones conclude. Season 5 was approved immediately after the season 3 finale, and season 6 received its green light just after season 4 wrapped.
Looking ahead to season 6
While season five focuses on Ho’s predicament and the London Rules, season 6 promises even higher stakes. Apple TV+ revealed the upcoming season “sees the Slow Horses on the run as Taverner embroils them all in a fatally high-stakes game of retaliation and revenge.”
The sixth season will adapt from Mick Herron’s novels Joe Country and Slough House, continuing the author’s acclaimed series about the dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in MI5’s most undesirable department.
With its unique blend of dark humor and high-stakes espionage thriller elements, Slow Horses carved out a distinctive niche in the crowded streaming landscape. It proves that audiences have an appetite for smart, character-driven spy fiction that doesn’t take itself too seriously while delivering genuine thrills.
Watch Slow Horses on Apple TV+
If you hurry, you can cram in binges of the first four seasons of Slow Horses before season five debuts September 24. The service is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
After launching in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.
In addition to award-winning movies and TV shows (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso), Apple TV+ offers documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.
Source: Apple TV+
This post first published on June 3, 2025. We republished it on September 3 and September 24, 2025, with updates.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
