Slow Horses

For the novel, see Slow Horses (novel).

Slow Horses is a British spy thriller television series based on the Slough House series of novels by Mick Herron. The first series, Slow Horses, premiered on Apple TV+ on 1 April 2022. The second series, Dead Lions, premiered on 2 December 2022. In June 2022, the programme was renewed for a third and fourth series. The third series, Real Tigers, premiered on 29 November 2023. The fourth series, Spook Street, premiered on 4 September 2024. In January 2024, it was renewed for a fifth series, which will be based on the fifth book in the series, London Rules. In October 2024, ahead of the fourth series premiere, it was renewed for a sixth series, which will be based on the sixth and seventh books in the series Joe Country and Slough House.

Slow Horses
Genre	Drama Black comedy Spy thriller
Created by	Will Smith
Based on	Slough House by Mick Herron
Written by	Will Smith Morwenna Banks Mark Denton Jonny Stockwood
Directed by	James Hawes Jeremy Lovering Saul Metzstein Adam Randall
Starring	Gary Oldman Jack Lowden Kristin Scott Thomas Sophie Okonedo Jonathan Pryce Hugo Weaving
Theme music composer	Mick Jagger Daniel Pemberton
Composers	Daniel Pemberton Toydrum
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	24
Production
Executive producers	Iain Canning Hakan Kousetta Jamie Laurenson Gail Mutrux Emile Sherman Will Smith Douglas Urbanski Graham Yost
Producer	Jane Robertson
Cinematography	Danny Cohen
Editors	Katie Weiland Luke Dunkley
Running time	40–53 minutes
Production companies	See-Saw Films Flying Studio Pictures Sony Pictures Television Studios (series 1)
Original release
Network	Apple TV+
Release	1 April 2022 (2022-04-01) – present (present)

Premise

Slough House is an administrative purgatory for MI5 service rejects who have seriously failed a task but have not been sacked. Those consigned there are known as "slow horses", a play on "Slough House". They are expected to endure dull, paper-pushing tasks, along with occasional mental abuse from their miserable boss, Jackson Lamb, who expects them to quit out of boredom or frustration. Life in Slough House is defined by drudgery. Yet the slow horses somehow get involved in investigating schemes that endanger Britain.

Cast and characters

Main

• Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the head of Slough House who is slovenly, rude, devious and has a mordant wit; he retains a secret loyalty to 'his' Slow Horses.
• Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, an up-and-coming MI5 agent abruptly shunted to Slough House after a very public training-exercise blunder.
• Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner, the Deputy Director General of MI5 and head of operations and designated "Second Desk".
• Sophie Okonedo as Ingrid Tearney (series 3; special guest series 1), the Director General of MI5, often referred to as "First Desk".
• Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright (series 4; special guest series 1–3), River Cartwright's grandfather, a retired senior MI5 officer.
• Hugo Weaving as Frank Harkness (series 4), a former CIA operative turned mercenary and River's biological father

Special guest

• Katherine Waterston as Alison Dunn (series 3), an MI5 agent who uncovers a dark secret at the heart of the agency.
• Sope Dirisu as Sean Donovan (series 3), a former head of security at the British embassy in Istanbul.

Slough House

• Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish, office administrator, recovering alcoholic, still enamoured with her long-deceased superior.
• Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy, assigned to Slough House after a tail operation went badly wrong.
• Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho, an obnoxious but brilliant computer nerd and former hacktivist on whose tech skills the Slow Horses are forced to rely.
• Dustin Demri-Burns as Min Harper (series 1–2), assigned after absent-mindedly leaving a top-secret disk on the train.
• Olivia Cooke as Sidonie "Sid" Baker (series 1), a competent, likeable MI5 agent inexplicably assigned to Slough House.
• Steven Waddington as Jed Moody (series 1), an ex-member of the "Dogs", an MI5 internal affairs and tactical unit.
• Paul Higgins as Struan Loy (series 1), assigned after sending an inappropriate work email.
• Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander (series 2–present), who has anger and drug issues.
• Kadiff Kirwan as Marcus Longridge (series 2–4), who tends to gamble on the job.
• Joanna Scanlan as Moira Tregorian (series 4–present), one of the Queens of the Database, banished to Slough House by Claude Whelan. She becomes Catherine's temporary replacement.
• Tom Brooke as J.K. Coe (series 4–present), the newest 'Slow Horse' and former operative from Psych Eval.

Others

Notable other characters appearing in more than one series include:

• Chris Reilly as Nick Duffy (series 1–3), head of MI5's internal affairs and ruthless tactical unit nicknamed the "Dogs".
• Chris Coghill as Hobbs (series 1 & 3), a member of the Dogs.
• Samuel West as Peter Judd MP, a right-wing Conservative politician with sharp elbows in series 1 who has been promoted to Home Secretary by series 2–3.
• Freddie Fox as James "Spider" Webb (series 1–3), an MI5 agent based at Regent's Park headquarters.
• Naomi Wirthner as Molly Doran (series 2–present), an MI5 records keeper at Regent's Park.
• Sean Gilder as "Bad" Sam Chapman (series 2–4), former Head Dog and David Cartwright's bodyguard turned Private Detective.
• Ruth Bradley as Emma Flyte (series 4–present), the glamorous new Head of the Dogs.
• James Callis as Claude Whelan (series 4–present), the newly promoted Director General of MI5, or 'First Desk'.

Notable other characters appearing in Series 1 (Slow Horses) include:

• Antonio Aakeel as Hassan Ahmed, Leeds University student kidnapped by the Sons of Albion.
• Paul Hilton as Robert Hobden, a disgraced and struggling journalist with ties to extremist far-right groups.
• Sam Hazeldine as Moe, the leader of the Sons of Albion, an extremist far-right group, with a secret to hide.
• Brian Vernel as Curly, a fanatical member of the Sons of Albion.
• Stephen Walters as Zeppo, a member of the Sons of Albion.
• David Walmsley as Larry, a member of the Sons of Albion.
• James Faulkner as Charles Partner (in flashbacks), a former Director General of MI5 during the Cold War, whom Standish worked for as his personal assistant.

Notable other characters appearing in Series 2 (Dead Lions) include:

• Rade Šerbedžija as Nikolai Katinsky, a former KGB agent living in exile in London after defecting at the end of the Cold War.
• Marek Vašut as Andre Chernitsky, a former KGB operative and assassin who operated during the Cold War.
• Alec Utgoff as Arkady Pashkin, a fixer for oligarch Ilya Nevsky.
• Catherine McCormack as Alex Tropper, a local resident in the small village of Upshott, the wife of Duncan and mother of Kelly.
• Adrian Rawlins as Duncan Tropper, a pub owner in Upshott, the husband of Alex and father of Kelly.
• Tamsin Topolski as Kelly Tropper, a pub barmaid in Upshott and the daughter of Alex and Duncan.
• Phil Davis as Richard Bough, aka Dickie Bow, a former MI5 officer, who was disgraced and is long since retired.

Notable other characters appearing in Series 3 (Real Tigers) include:

• Siôn Daniel Young as Douglas, an MI5 records keeper.
• Charlie Rowe as Ben, a member of Donovan's team.
• Eliot Salt as Sarah, a member of Donovan's team.
• Gavin Spokes as Sly Monteith, head of the private security firm Chieftain.
• Nick Blood as Sturges, a Chieftain operative.

Notable other characters appearing in Series 4 (Spook Street) include:

• Kiran Sonia Sawar as Giti Rahman, an MI5 agent at Regent's Park
• Tom Wozniczka as Patrice, a mercenary working under Harkness
• Anna Wilson-Jones as Isobel Cartwright, River's mother and David's daughter.

Episodes

Series overview

Series	Subtitle	Episodes		Originally released
				First released	Last released
1	Slow Horses	6		1 April 2022 (2022-04-01)	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29)
2	Dead Lions	6		2 December 2022 (2022-12-02)	30 December 2022 (2022-12-30)
3	Real Tigers	6		29 November 2023 (2023-11-29)	27 December 2023 (2023-12-27)
4	Spook Street	6		4 September 2024 (2024-09-04)	9 October 2024 (2024-10-09)

Series 1: Slow Horses (2022)

Slow Horses is based on the novel of the same name by Mick Herron, which is part of the author's Slough House series. It tells the story of a team of British intelligence agents who have all committed career-ending mistakes, and subsequently work in a dumping ground department of MI5 called Slough House.

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Failure's Contagious"	James Hawes	Will Smith	1 April 2022 (2022-04-01)
After a serious mistake, caused by a colleague but blamed on him, during a live training exercise at Stansted Airport, MI5 agent River Cartwright is demoted to dead-end work at Slough House, a tranche of MI5 reserved for the agency's screw-ups, headed by the alcoholic and impersonable Jackson Lamb. Lamb assigns River to carry out surveillance on Robert Hobden, a journalist associated with far-right politicians Peter Judd and Roger Simmonds. River discovers that his colleague and officemate Sidonie "Sid" Baker has also been assigned to Hobden, discreetly copying the contents of his USB flash drive in a café. River is then instructed to deliver the drive to the service's headquarters at Regent's Park, much to his surprise. Hobden makes a series of calls to journalist colleagues alleging he has information that an "attack is imminent". River visits his grandfather, who reveals Hobden was blacklisted when his name appeared on a leaked donor list of the British Patriotic Party, and blamed MI5 for his troubles. He warns River that if MI5 are using Slough House to look into Hobden, it is because there is risk and they want plausible deniability. Lamb's long-suffering assistant Catherine Standish attends an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. British-Pakistani student Hassan Ahmed is kidnapped by the far-right group Sons of Albion, who announce they will behead him on livestream at sunrise the following day. River breaks rank and leaves Slough House to further investigate.
2	2	"Work Drinks"	James Hawes	Will Smith	1 April 2022 (2022-04-01)
Hassan's kidnappers – Moe, Larry, Curly and Zeppo – hold him hostage in a London terrace basement, with it transpiring that Simmonds is behind the kidnapping. River, having copied the contents of Hobden's USB drive before delivering it to Regent's Park, realises it contains no information and manipulates a rival, James "Spider" Webb, into confirming the same. Standish begins having flashbacks to the death of a former colleague of hers and Lamb's, Charles Partner. Slough House's cyber expert, Roddy Ho, discovers he cannot hack Hobden's laptop as it is air gapped, furthering everybody's suspicions. Deputy-Director General Diana Taverner approaches another member of Slough House, Jed Moody, and instructs him to do some "off book" work for her. Two other members of Slough House, Min Harper and Louisa Guy, meet in a pub after work and lament their failed careers. River and Sid decide to tail Hobden, but she confesses that she was assigned to Lamb's team to keep tabs on River. The two see a masked man enter Hobden's home and pursue him, discovering upon entry that Hobden was able to destroy his hard drive with thermite. Hobden escapes as River and Sid fight the masked man, who escapes after shooting Sid in the head.
3	3	"Bad Tradecraft"	James Hawes	Will Smith	8 April 2022 (2022-04-08)
Sid, alive but in critical condition, is taken to hospital by MI5 security operatives who detain River. Lamb breaks him out, and the two deduce Moody was the gunman sent to kill Hobden. Moody returns to Slough House and attacks Min and Louisa when they re-enter, but is killed when he breaks his neck falling down the stairs in a scuffle. Lamb thinks that Slough House is going to be blamed for whatever operation Regent's Park is running and be disowned if it fails. Taverner meets with Lamb and reveals Ahmed is the nephew of the second-in-command of Pakistani Military Intelligence. His kidnapping and intended rescue is an unsanctioned false-flag operation masterminded by Taverner herself to potentially increase cooperation with Pakistan as well as neutralise and intimidate the far-right. She claims to have an operative embedded with the Sons of Albion who organised the kidnapping but will also facilitate the rescue. It is also revealed that Standish narrowly escaped a treason charge through her links with Partner and his death. Hobden meets with Judd and tries to convince him to go public with the information that Hassan's kidnapping is a setup, only to be rebuked. Curly is seen making a series of discreet calls with a burner phone, implying he is Taverner's mole. Hassan tries to escape and is threatened by Moe. Giving him a chance to save face, Taverner offers Lamb's team the opportunity to signal to her man the raid is about to commence, allowing him to escape with Hassan. He, River, Min and Louisa arrive at the property but upon entry discover it empty aside from Moe's beheaded corpse.
4	4	"Visiting Hours"	James Hawes	Morwenna Banks	15 April 2022 (2022-04-15)
It is revealed that Moe (real name Alan Black) was Taverner's mole but was found out and murdered by Curly, who then fled with Zeppo, Larry and Hassan. Driving out of London, Zeppo and Larry reveal that they never intended to go through with killing Hassan and entertain the idea of releasing him, becoming increasingly concerned with Curly's erratic behaviour and rhetoric. Lamb and his team flee the property before the "Dogs" (MI5 security personnel) arrive, knowing that since the operation has not gone to plan that Slough House will be blamed. River is able to rescue Roddy before he can be taken into custody, but Min and Louisa are unable to stop their colleague Struan Loy from being taken from his home by operatives. Taverner calls Standish several times to flip her allegiance, alleging that Lamb was involved with Partner's death, but Standish remains loyal to Lamb when he comes to extract her. Leaving her house the two are apprehended by James Webb and head of security Nick Duffy, who force them into a car after searching Lamb. En route to Regent's Park, Standish is able to free herself and Lamb after pulling a Glock 17 from her handbag, the weapon having been taken from Moody and placed there by Lamb. Having discovered the fallout of the failed operation, the Director-General of the Security Service, Ingrid Tearney, pulls out of a State Department meeting in the US and heads back to London, giving Taverner limited time to tie off loose ends. Taverner manipulates Struan into giving false evidence that Lamb was the mastermind behind the false flag operation involving Black, instead of her.
5	5	"Fiasco"	James Hawes	Mark Denton & Jonny Stockwood	22 April 2022 (2022-04-22)
When the team reconvenes, River recalls taking a photo of Taverner covertly meeting with Black whilst carrying out surveillance training. Lamb "returns" Duffy's car to Regent's Park and demands to speak with Taverner, who offers him a way out that would result in his dismissal without charges. She also threatens Standish and says that Sid has died in hospital. Lamb informs her there is a bomb in the car he returned, which allows River to sneak in whilst Duffy's security team investigates. River confronts Webb, alleging Taverner had him purposefully feed him incorrect intel during the Stansted exercise so he would fail and be demoted, as he had the photograph of her meeting with Black. After locating the photo and evading security, he and Lamb threaten to reveal Taverner's operation to the Director General of MI5 and the press. Standish and Roddy are able to identify the van being used by the Sons of Albion, as it is linked to a previous cover identity used by Black, and begin to track it. Running out of petrol, Curly announces he still plans to behead Ahmed and die resisting arrest, but Zeppo takes over after pulling a handgun he secretly took from Black's corpse. Hassan tells the group his uncle can offer them money for his safe return. After refuelling, Curly is able to disarm and kill Zeppo, regaining control.
6	6	"Follies"	James Hawes	Will Smith	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29)
Taverner confronts Judd at his home, revealing that calls he made to his far-right contacts after Hobden's visit resulted in Black's death and the compromise of the mission. Tearney returns from the US, ordering all loose ends be tied up after Taverner further lies to her about the operation. Curly forces Larry and Hassan to a secluded woodland at gunpoint to carry out the beheading. Larry frees Ahmed and attacks Curly with an axe but flees, which enables an injured Curly to recapture Hassan. Larry arrives at a seaport in Harwich but is shot dead by the "Dogs" on the orders of Tearney, who plant a weapon on his corpse to justify the killing. Curly prepares to kill Hassan outside what he believes is a Norman castle, which Ahmed points out is actually a folly. Lamb, River, Min and Louisa, with assistance from Roddy, are able to track them to the location. Curly and River engage in a brief shoot-out, before the former is knocked out by Hassan with a rock. The Dogs arrive but the group prevent them from killing Curly, in defiance of First and Second Desk. With the outcome seemingly a success, Roddy tells River that all traces of Sid's name have been wiped from existence, indicating she may still be alive. Hobden is killed by Duffy. It is revealed that Partner was the former Director General of MI5, and officially committed suicide as he was being blackmailed by a foreign intelligence service. Lamb tells Standish he knew and provided the gun, as Partner was a close friend. A flashback reveals Lamb killed him and made it look like a suicide, on the orders of River's grandfather, David Cartwright.

Series 2: Dead Lions (2022)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
7	1	"Last Stop"	Jeremy Lovering	Will Smith	2 December 2022 (2022-12-02)
Former field agent Richard Bough, aka Dickie Bow, recognises and follows a man who tortured him during the Cold War, only to die on a rail replacement bus from an apparent heart attack. Jackson Lamb investigates, finding Bough's hidden phone under the seat with the message "cicada", and gets the team at Slough House to look deeper. River speaks with his grandfather about Bow’s death. David discusses the "cicada" theory of Russian sleeper agents embedded in British society, which MI5 dismissed as a hoax after no sleepers were found, and they concluded that the programme's alleged mastermind, Alexander Popov, did not exist. He tells River that Bow went AWOL in East Berlin and was assumed to have defected, but returned drunk. Bow claimed to have been kidnapped and tortured by Popov, who force-fed him brandy, but was fired. David dismisses River's theory that Bow’s death was the work of the FSB or related to a conspiracy, but warns River to be careful. Min and Louisa are seconding Webb to provide background security for a clandestine meeting at The Glasshouse between him and Arkady Pashkin, a representative of UK-based energy oligarch and defector Ilya Nevsky. Ho and newcomer Shirley Dander retrieve CCTV footage from the bus and train, showing that the man Bow was following discreetly poisoned him and then took a further train to Stroud in The Cotswolds. River approaches Lamb, revealing that he knows about the cicada conspiracy and is going to Stroud to pursue the matter further.
8	2	"From Upshott with Love"	Jeremy Lovering	Morwenna Banks	2 December 2022 (2022-12-02)
Lamb meets with Nikolai Katinsky, an ex-KGB agent and defector. He alleges when stationed in East Berlin that he overheard Popov demanding that the cicada programme remain funded after the fall of the Soviet Union. His description of the man Popov was speaking to, Andrei Chernitsky, matches Bow’s killer. River bribes a taxi driver in Stroud, who reveals he drove Chernitsky to an airfield and flying club in Upshott, but was instructed to lie about it and call a number should people come looking. Ho traces the phone to Estonia. Lamb meets with Taverner and convinces her to fund a fake ID and cover package for River, who he then meets and instructs to investigate the airfield and its owner, Duncan Tropper. Taverner is dealing with now-Home Secretary Peter Judd regarding a large anti-capitalist protest in London. Webb reveals his planned meet with Pashkin to Taverner, who reluctantly approves despite the UK's agreement with Moscow to keep intelligence operatives away from Nevsky, a critic of the Russian government. Min and Louisa meet with Pashkin's security operatives Piotr and Kyril, but the Russians lie about where they are staying. Min covertly follows them back to a commercial address at Edgware Road but is confronted by Piotr, who puts a gun to his head.
9	3	"Drinking Games"	Jeremy Lovering	Morwenna Banks	9 December 2022 (2022-12-09)
The gun threat is a joke, and Piotr invites Min to drink vodka with him and Kyril. The Russians cut the session short when a friend visits. Afterwards Min is killed when he is supposedly struck by a car as he is cycling home drunk. Believing he was targeted also, Lamb investigates the driver, Rebecca, and discovers she previously lived in Vladivostok. He confronts her, and she confesses she was paid off; Min wasn't killed by her car, and she was not driving. Judd is delivering a speech in the City of London on the day of the protest. For added security, he is to be accompanied by Nick Duffy, leader of the "Dogs", a tactical and security unit, but he demands that Taverner joins him instead. Newcomer Marcus Longridge replaces Min on the Pashkin assignment and confesses to Louisa he has a gambling addiction, which was the reason he was put in Slough House. Ho, Dander and Standish deduce that Chernitsky never left the UK, and just planted his phone in the luggage of an Estonia-bound touring folk band at the airport. Using his cover as a journalist from The Times, River befriends Kelly, the daughter of the suspected sleeper agent Duncan Tropper. He discovers through her that Tropper and his wife Alex used to be student radicals who moved to the village from London. The family invite him to dinner and introduce him to their visiting friend Leo, who is actually Chernitsky.
10	4	"Cicada"	Jeremy Lovering	Mark Denton & Jonny Stockwood	16 December 2022 (2022-12-16)
Rebecca recounts that Min was attacked and run over by Piotr and Kyril, and finished off by Chernitsky before his death was staged. Lamb discovers Katinsky's involvement as a triple agent; he agreed to assist the Russians and distract Lamb, in exchange for facing no repercussions for his defection decades earlier. Standish speaks with Victor Krymov, the intermediary who set up the meet between Paskhin and Webb. Lamb suggests that Krymov lied about Pashkin being Nevsky's representative, with the younger Russian likely being his competitor. Dander and Lamb visit Nevsky's residence to find that he shot himself after being poisoned by radiation injection. Louisa meets with Pashkin at his hotel armed with a utility knife, intent on torturing him as she believes he is responsible for Min's death. She is stopped by Longridge. Lamb orders her to temporarily stand down and proceed with the meeting, as Pashkin might resist interrogation. He approaches Regent's Park. Chernitsky leaves the Tropper residence and is pursued by River, who confronts him and Katinsky at the airfield preparing an improvised explosive device. Alex Tropper arrives and explains Katinsky is another friend from university. Then she incapacitates River with a stun gun, so revealing that she is the sleeper agent.
11	5	"Boardroom Politics"	Jeremy Lovering	Mark Denton & Jonny Stockwood	23 December 2022 (2022-12-23)
After Alex takes off, Katinsky tells River they plan to fly the plane into The Glasshouse. Duncan and Kelly find and untie River, and he is able to convince them of Alex's true identity. River calls in a "Code September", prompting Taverner to evacuate Judd from his speech at The Royal Exchange and the immediate area around The Glasshouse. Lamb blackmails Duffy to get him into the records department at Regent's Park. He deduces that Katinsky is the spymaster behind the cicada program (passing himself off as a junior bureaucrat when defecting to avoid suspicion) and was the handler of a traitor in the service. Standish beats Krymov in a game of chess and he reveals it was Katinsky, not Pashkin, who he met to set up the Webb meeting. Katinsky specifically requested Lamb's team to be involved. The meeting between Paskhin and Webb at The Glasshouse proceeds as planned. However, an evacuation alarm activates and Pashkin pulls a gun. Louisa explains to Webb that Pashkin is likely FSB and killed Nevsky. Pashkin shoots Webb and escapes with Piotr, locking the agents inside. Longridge shoots Kyril with a pistol he hid in the conference room. Ho and Dander trace Chernitsky to a train station in central London and pursue him as the evacuations take place.
12	6	"Old Scores"	Jeremy Lovering	Will Smith	30 December 2022 (2022-12-30)
Louisa interrogates a dying Kyril and learns that Pashkin and his associates were meant to drain Nevsky's accounts from the Glasshouse while it was evacuated. River discovers the bomb left at the airfield and realises the attack was a hoax, calling Taverner to have the Code September retracted. Alex diverts her course, defusing the situation once the Glasshouse has been closed long enough for the heist to take place. Ho notifies River that Chernitsky's destination is Tunbridge Wells, where his grandfather lives. Chernitsky ambushes Ho on the train but, after Dander boards the train and helps fight him, Chernitsky escapes. Lamb calls Katinsky, deducing that he is the supposedly fictional Russian spymaster "Alexander Popov". Katinsky reveals that he also intended to kill Lamb in retribution for Charles Partner, his mole at MI5. Lamb, already aware, had notified David that he was another potential target due to his complicity in Partner's death. By the time River arrives at Tunbridge Wells by plane with Kelly, David has already ambushed and killed Chernitsky with a shotgun. Louisa and Longridge kill Pashkin when he attempts to escape the Glasshouse, having betrayed and killed Piotr along the way. Realising he has been outmanoeuvred, Katinsky goads Lamb to kill him. Lamb instead leaves Katinsky with one bullet left in his revolver, and Katinsky kills himself. Taverner and Judd create a cover story for the Code September hoax, blaming it on a security glitch and implicating the prime minister, thereby improving Judd's odds against him in the next leadership election. Lamb asks Taverner to place a plaque for Min with other fallen MI5 agents at St Leonard's Church, but is denied. Lamb and the Slow Horses break into the church and hide a plaque for Min behind a bench. After the rest of Slough House leaves, Lamb adds a handwritten note commemorating Dickie Bow's service as a joe; the note then falls to the floor as Lamb walks off.

Series 3: Real Tigers (2023)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
13	1	"Strange Games"	Saul Metzstein	Will Smith	29 November 2023 (2023-11-29)
Sean Donovan and Alison Dunn are lovers and British intelligence operatives stationed in Istanbul. One night Donovan follows Dunn, suspecting she has stolen a classified file from the British embassy. She loses him during a chase through the city before exchanging the file (labelled 'Footprint') with an unknown man. Donovan soon finds and grieves over Dunn's murdered body. At Slough House, a year later, the team are engaged in their usual tedious tasks. Attending her post-work AA meeting, Standish is befriended by Donovan (calling himself "John" and pretending to be part of the AA group) and they go to a cafe; feeling uneasy after Donovan mentions Lamb, Standish tries to sneak out but is kidnapped by a team led by Donovan. The next day, the slow horses investigate Standish's unusual absence. Shirley and Marcus go to Standish's flat and realise she hasn't been home. Louisa tracks Standish's movements to the cafe, notices that security camera cables had been cut, and finds something of Standish's in a nearby underpass. At Slough House, River is texted a photo of Standish with a gun to her head and the message "Barbican bridge, one minute or she dies."
14	2	"Hard Lessons"	Saul Metzstein	Will Smith	29 November 2023 (2023-11-29)
Telling no one about the message, River races to the Barbican Bridge and meets Webb, acting on behalf of the kidnappers who have threatened his family. Webb instructs River to steal the Prime Minister's vetting file from MI5 headquarters before midday (an hour) or Standish will be killed. River suspects he is the victim of a prank until a sniper's laser-target appears on Webb's chest. River gains entry to the Park by claiming to have found a missing diamond from the Glasshouse incident in Season 2. Meanwhile, Louisa continues to investigate the cafe's surroundings and links an abandoned car to Donovan. Lamb notices Slough House is being watched. Shirley and Marcus follow one of the watchers, but he escapes. Lamb meets with an old associate, Sam Chapman, and establishes that Donovan is employed by a private security firm. At the Park, River evades Nick Duffy, the head of the Dogs (security), and gradually works his way into the records department after stealing a security pass from another Dog, Hobbs. Head of records Molly Doran refuses to help River find the PM's file. Lamb calls, instructing River to get out of the Park immediately, saying that Standish is in no real danger because the kidnappers are from a "tiger team" designed to test MI5 security. River sneaks out of the Park but is later captured by Duffy and his team.
15	3	"Negotiating with Tigers"	Saul Metzstein	Will Smith	6 December 2023 (2023-12-06)
River is given a brutal and vindictive beating by Duffy in revenge for having made the Dogs look incompetent. Lamb discovers that Standish's kidnappers are private security firm Chieftain, a "tiger team" hired by Home Secretary Peter Judd to demonstrate weaknesses in MI5's security. Judd uses the operation's apparent success to strongarm Tearney into privatising MI5's security, giving business to Chieftain, who are run by an old school friend of Judd's, Sly Monteith. Monteith loses control of the situation, however, when Donovan goes rogue, kidnapping Chieftain operative Sturges and taking Standish and Sturges to a new safe house. Shirley and Marcus break into Donovan's house unauthorised and learn about "stage two" of his plan, which is to get hold of MI5's Grey Books, a record of conspiracy theories. The two report this finding to Lamb, who secures River's release from MI5 and sends him with Louisa to Chieftain's headquarters, where they discover that Webb had been working with Chieftain the entire time. Monteith sends Webb to pay off Donovan and secure the release of Standish, but an altercation leads to Donovan accidentally killing Webb. Lamb interrupts Judd and Monteith's dinner at a posh restaurant to try to secure Standish's release. Donovan dumps Webb's body outside the restaurant.
16	4	"Uninvited Guests"	Saul Metzstein	Mark Denton & Jonny Stockwood	13 December 2023 (2023-12-13)
Tearney reasserts control over MI5. She plans to allow Donovan access to the Grey Books in return for Standish’s release and then have him arrested by Duffy. Meanwhile, Sturges escapes from the safehouse, where Donovan reveals that he is working with Alison Dunn’s siblings, Ben and Sarah, seeking justice for her death. Standish sympathises and tells them where they can find the file they are seeking. Meanwhile, Shirley and Marcus are fired by Lamb, and River comforts his grandfather, who is suffering from memory lapses. Roddy locates the safehouse and sets off with Lamb to rescue Standish. River and Louisa escort Donovan and Ben into the file-storage facility, where Ben reveals that the Grey Books were a ruse and that he is seeking a different file. After a conversation with Doran, Tearney deduces that someone in the Park has hidden a particular file inside the facility for Donovan to find. Duffy takes charge of a team of Chieftain mercenaries and is ordered by Tearney to kill everyone inside the facility to ensure the file isn't leaked.
17	5	"Cleaning Up"	Saul Metzstein	Mark Denton & Jonny Stockwood	20 December 2023 (2023-12-20)
Tearney confronts Taverner, who is revealed to have been Donovan's source, and had left the "Footprint" file in the facility for Donovan to leak, as it contains evidence of wrongdoing that will lead to Tearney's downfall: years earlier she had agreed to test a new device that would wirelessly hack any computer. The failure of the device resulted in multiple near-deaths, the only report on the mishap stored in "Footprint". Alison's plans to leak it to the world were uncovered by Tearney, who sent an operative to kill her and make it look like a suicide. Chieftain operatives prepare to enter the facility and set up a trap outside of it. River warns Lamb and then calls Slough House, asking for the help of Shirley and Marcus just before Chieftain cuts off the phone lines. Shirley and Marcus arm themselves and drive to the facility, hoping that by helping River and Louisa they may be given their jobs back by Lamb. Chieftain agents storm the building and capture Douglas, the facility's sole security employee, who is ruthlessly executed by Duffy shortly afterwards. Lamb reaches Standish at the Dunn house and rescues her from Sarah, but Sturges and Hobbs arrive with orders to kill everyone at the house. River, Louisa, Ben, and Donovan resist the assault and find the "Footprint" file, but Ben is killed.
18	6	"Footprints"	Saul Metzstein	Will Smith	27 December 2023 (2023-12-27)
Hobbs and Sturges storm the Dunn house, however are outmanoeuvred by Lamb, who rigs the house with booby traps. Sarah strangles Sturges to death after a brief struggle, while Lamb kills Hobbs. Roddy attempts an heroic rescue, crashing a bus through the side of the house, too late to be of any help. Donovan sacrifices himself to allow River and Louisa to escape the file storage facility with the "Footprint" file, and they are rescued from Duffy’s planned ambush by Shirley. Marcus defeats Duffy in a fistfight and Louisa finishes Duffy off with a rock to the head. Lamb tells Standish that her hero, Charles Partner, was a traitor who was using her, leading a devastated Standish to resign from Slough House. River takes “Footprint” to his grandfather, who destroys it, worrying about the reputational damage it will cause to MI5. Anticipating this, River has already made a copy, which he leaks. In the aftermath, Tearney and Judd are forced to resign, with Taverner assuming Tearney’s place as First Desk.

Series 4: Spook Street (2024)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
19	1	"Identity Theft"	Adam Randall	Will Smith	4 September 2024 (2024-09-04)
A suicide bomb goes off at the Westacres shopping mall in London, carried out by Robert Winters. After Winters publishes a video confessing to the attack, a police force breaks into his flat, but three of them are killed by a booby trap. River confesses to Louisa that he thinks his grandfather, David, is suffering from Alzheimer's and becoming paranoid. She encourages him to care for David, as David cared for River when he was growing up. Meanwhile, Marcus is struggling to kick his gambling addiction, Roddy claims to have a girlfriend, Standish has been replaced by the seemingly-competent Moira Tregorian, and the PTSD-suffering JK Coe has joined Slough House. At David's house, a man arrives at night, claiming to be River. David shoots and kills him, and then flees. Lamb is called to identify River's body by Emma Flyte, the new commander of the Dogs, and he does. Lamb confronts Standish at her flat and learns that David is sheltering at her house and that River is still alive. River is seen to be alive and in the backseat of a taxi in France.
20	2	"A Stranger Comes to Town"	Adam Randall	Will Smith	11 September 2024 (2024-09-11)
Having learned that the man David shot was an assassin called Bertrand, River hides David at Standish's flat, assumes Bertrand's identity and travels to the French town of Lavande to investigate. Lamb reveals to the team that River is alive, and unsuccessfully questions a mentally deteriorating David as to why he might have enemies in France. MI5 analyst Giti Rahman discovers that Robert Winters is a "cold body", a fake identity created by MI5. Taverner destroys the evidence and blackmails the new First Desk Claude Whelan into going along with the cover-up. River follows clues to a secluded estate, Les Arbres, and is nearly killed by a mysterious man with ties to both Winters and Bertrand. River is saved by another man, who knocks him out with the butt of his shotgun and takes him captive.
21	3	"Penny for Your Thoughts"	Adam Randall	Morwenna Banks	18 September 2024 (2024-09-18)
River is held captive by the mother of Bertrand, who reveals that Bertrand’s father Frank Harkness raised several sons by different mothers at Les Arbres and that she blames Harkness for her son’s death. A mob arrives seeking to kill River, thinking he is Bertrand, but he manages to escape. Flyte interrogates Lamb, who gives up David’s location. Standish successfully conceals David from Flyte, but a confused David then runs off. Whelan recruits Giti to investigate MI5’s cold bodies behind Taverner’s back. Lamb learns from Tregorian that David’s bagman, Sam Chapman, had spent time in Lavande 30 years ago, just as Harkness sends Patrice, an assassin, to kill Chapman. Lamb manages to rescue Chapman, with help from Marcus and Shirley, but Patrice escapes.
22	4	"Returns"	Adam Randall	Mark Denton & Jonny Stockwood	25 September 2024 (2024-09-25)
Chapman tells Lamb how he was sent by David to Les Arbres 30 years earlier to give the mercenary group that operated there a cache of guns, money and “cold body” identities in exchange for a woman. Harkness's employers threaten to have him killed unless he helps them cover up their involvement in Westacres by taking out Chapman and David. Lamb deduces that David has gone to the old MI5 HQ, now a luxury hotel, and manages to extricate him before the Dogs arrive. Attempting to flee the country, Chapman is caught by Patrice and killed after refusing to disclose David’s whereabouts. Whelan discovers that River has travelled to France using Bertrand's cold body identity. As River returns to London, he is chased by the Dogs and escapes to David's house, where he realises that his mother may be connected to Les Arbres, before being caught by Flyte.
23	5	"Grave Danger"	Adam Randall	Mark Denton & Jonny Stockwood & Will Smith	2 October 2024 (2024-10-02)
David reveals to Lamb and Standish that the woman he secretly had extracted from Les Arbres was his daughter—River's mother—whom he exchanged for the money, weapons and fake identities Harkness used to start a "deniable assassination squad" of killers trained from birth. Lamb leaves to investigate Chapman's disappearance, while having Standish take David to Slough House. Tregorian learns from Ho that Whelan had her sent to Slough House for unwittingly finding evidence that he visits prostitutes. Coe tells Ho that his "girlfriend" Kim is actually a bot. River convinces Flyte to send the photo he retrieved from Les Arbres of Harkness's group to the Park; Giti learns that Harkness is a former Special Forces and CIA operative who was discharged for crimes including embezzlement and torture. Whelan and Taverner link the cold-body identities of Harkness's sons to several previous assassinations worldwide, and plot a cover-up. Harkness breaks into Molly's apartment and forces her to give him her security credentials so he can track the convoy of Dogs taking River to the Park, and sends Patrice to intercept. Patrice kills four Dogs, knocks Flyte unconscious, and kidnaps River.
24	6	"Hello Goodbye"	Adam Randall	Will Smith	9 October 2024 (2024-10-09)
River is taken to meet Harkness, who confirms River's suspicions that he is his biological father. Harkness offers to train River to be part of his organisation, which River swiftly rejects. The Dogs converge upon River's location at the same time as Louisa and Flyte. Harkness puts a live grenade in River's sweatshirt; Louisa throws it in the water where it explodes, but Harkness escapes in the chaos. River leads the pursuit to the train station, where Harkness allows himself to be arrested. Meanwhile, Lamb finds Chapman's body where he went to pick up his flight fund; Patrice, who has Chapman's phone, listens to a message left by Tregorian for Chapman saying that David is safe at Slough House. Patrice invades Slough House, killing Marcus before being subdued by Shirley and a returning Lamb. Coe talks Shirley out of killing Patrice, before shooting him dead himself. Harkness negotiates his release by threatening to reveal that MI5 and other security agencies hired his mercenary group to kill their targets over the years, having left letters at Molly's house addressed to Whelan and other heads of service that were set to be uploaded online within 24 hours of his arrest. River has David committed to a care home against his wishes, and joins Lamb for a drink.

Production

Development

The series was given a straight to series order by Apple TV+ in October 2019. Each of the first five series is based on an individual book in the Slough House set. In June 2022, ahead of the second series premiere, the show was renewed for a third and fourth series, which are based on the next novels Real Tigers and Spook Street. In January 2024, the programme was renewed for a fifth series, which will be based on the fifth book, London Rules. In October 2024, the show was renewed for a sixth series, which will be based on the sixth and seventh books, Joe Country and Slough House.

Casting

In October 2019, along with the series order, Gary Oldman was announced to star. The cast was rounded out in December 2020 with the additions of Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden.

Filming

Filming of the first series began on 30 November 2020 in England, and continued into February 2021. In July 2021, filming continued in Stroud, Gloucestershire. It was originally intended to film earlier in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By March 2023, filming for the third series had been completed and filming for the fourth series was about to begin. The fourth series was directed by Adam Randall.

Music

The title track "Strange Game" was performed by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who wrote the song for the show with the show's composer Daniel Pemberton.

Reception

Critical response of Slow Horses

Series	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
1	95% (60 reviews)	78 (22 reviews)
2	100% (26 reviews)	84 (10 reviews)
3	98% (44 reviews)	85 (21 reviews)
4	100% (42 reviews)	85 (19 reviews)

The first series received highly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes lists a 95% approval rating with an average rating of 7.7/10, based on 60 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Slow Horses refreshes the espionage genre by letting its band of snoops be bumbling, with Gary Oldman giving a masterclass in frumpy authority." On Metacritic, the first series has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 22 critics.

Rotten Tomatoes reports a 100% approval rating for the second series, with an average rating of 8.5/10, based on 26 critics’ reviews. The website's critical consensus says, "Slow Horses says nay to the sophomore jinx with a second series that might be even better than its supremely addictive predecessor." On Metacritic, series two has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 based on 10 critics. Oldman was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for his portrayal of Lamb.

The third series received a 98% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes, with an average of 8.5/10, based on 44 critics’ reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Slow Horses' shabby charms reach a full gallop in this superb third season, yielding what might just be Slough House's most compelling operation yet." On Metacritic, series three has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 21 critics. The third series received nine Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Gary Oldman, Supporting Actor in a Drama series for Jack Lowden and Best Drama Series.

The fourth series received a 100% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes, with an average of 8.6/10, based on reviews from 40 critics. The website's critical consensus says, "The stakes get more personal than ever before in Slow Horses' superb fourth season, proving that this spy series is saddled up for the long haul with no signs of fatigue." On Metacritic, series four has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 19 critics.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2023	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actor	Gary Oldman	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Jack Lowden	Nominated
	British Academy Television Craft Awards	Best Original Music: Fiction	Daniel Pemberton, Mick Jagger	Nominated
		Best Sound: Fiction	Martin Jensen, Joe Beal, Duncan Price, Craig Butters, Sarah Elias, Andrew Sissons	Nominated
		Best Editing: Fiction	Katie Weiland (for "Failure's Contagious")	Nominated
	British Society of Cinematographers Awards	Best Cinematography in Television Drama	Danny Cohen (for "Bad Tradecraft")	Nominated
	Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards	Best Actor in a Streaming Series, Drama	Gary Oldman	Nominated
	Hollywood Music in Media Awards	Best Main Title Theme – TV Show/Limited Series	Daniel Pemberton, Mick Jagger	Nominated
		Best Original Song in a TV Show/Limited Series	"Strange Games" (Daniel Pemberton, Mick Jagger)	Nominated
	Royal Television Society Programme Awards	Writer – Drama	Will Smith	Nominated
	Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards	Music – Original Title	Daniel Pemberton, Mick Jagger	Nominated
	USC Scripter Awards	Best Adapted Screenplay – Television	Will Smith (for "Failure's Contagious")	Won
2024	American Cinema Editors	Best Edited Drama Series	Sam Williams (for "Strange Games")	Nominated
	British Academy Television Awards	Best Drama Series	Slow Horses	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Jack Lowden	Nominated
	British Academy Television Craft Awards	Best Editing: Fiction	Sam Williams (for "Strange Games")	Won
			Zsófia Tálas (for "Footprints")	Nominated
		Best Make-Up & Hair Design	Lucy Sibbick, Sharon Miller, Kym Menzies-Foster, Kelly Taylor	Nominated
		Best Sound: Fiction	Sound Team	Won
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama	Gary Oldman	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Drama Series	Slow Horses	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Gary Oldman	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Jack Lowden	Nominated
		Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series	Saul Metzstein (for "Strange Games")	Nominated
		Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series	Will Smith (for "Negotiating With Tigers")	Won
	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	Jonathan Pryce (for "Footprints")	Nominated
		Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series	Nina Gold	Nominated
		Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series	Zsófia Tálas (for "Footprints")	Nominated
		Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)	Daniel Pemberton, Toydrum (for "Strange Games")	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor – Drama or Genre Series	Gary Oldman	Won
	USC Scripter Awards	Best Adapted Screenplay – Television	Will Smith (for "Negotiating with Tigers")	Won
	Hollywood Music in Media Awards	Original Score – TV Show/Limited Series	Daniel Pemberton & Toydrum	Nominated
2025	Artios Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Drama Series	Nina Gold, Melissa Gethin Clarke	Pending

External links

• Official website
• Slow Horses at IMDb