Slow Horses

Series Details:

Based on	Slough House by Mick Herron
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Drama, Black comedy, Spy thriller
Season	4
Episodes	24
Release date	April 1, 2022
Running time	40–53 minutes
Age rating	TV-MA
Starring	Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sophie Okonedo, Jonathan Pryce, Hugo Weaving
Created by	Will Smith
Directed by	Saul Metzstein, Adam Randall, James Hawes, Jeremy Lovering
Written by	Morwenna Banks, Gaby Chiappe, Mark Denton, Ed Docx, Sean Gray, Will Smith, Jonny Stockwood
Produced by	Jane Robertson
Executive producers	Iain Canning, Hakan Kousetta, Jamie Laurenson, Gail Mutrux, Emile Sherman, Will Smith, Douglas Urbanski, Graham Yost, Julian Stevens, James Hawes
Cinematography by	Danny Cohen, David Chizallet, Eben Bolter
Edited by	Zsófia Tálas, Luke Dunkley, Morten Højbjerg, Katie Weiland, Ben Whitehead, Sam Williams, Robert Frost, Harrison Wall, Fiona Brands
Music by	Daniel Pemberton, Toydrum
Casting by	Nina Gold, Melissa Gethin Clarke
Production Design by	Choi Ho Man, Tom Burton
Art Direction by	Oskars Vilnitis-Pantelejevs, Tilly Scandrett, Choi Ho Man, Virginia Reina, Simon Marsay, Andrew Munro, Karen Wakefield, Paula Gimenez, Kane Silks, Kelvin Cook, Vicki Stevenson, Tom Coates, Billur Turan, David Tinto
Set Decoration by	Barbara Herman-Skelding, Jackie Yau
Costume Design by	Guy Speranza
Production Company	See-Saw Films Flying Studio Pictures Sony Pictures Television Studios (series 1)
Original Network	Apple TV+

Cast & Character:

Main

• Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb
• Jack Lowden as River Cartwright
• Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner
• Sophie Okonedo as Ingrid Tearney (series 3; special guest series 1)
• Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright (series 4; special guest series 1–3)
• Hugo Weaving as Frank Harkness (series 4)

Special guest

• Katherine Waterston as Alison Dunn (series 3)
• Sope Dirisu as Sean Donovan (series 3)

Slough House

• Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish
• Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy
• Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho
• Dustin Demri-Burns as Min Harper (series 1–2)
• Olivia Cooke as Sidonie “Sid” Baker (series 1)
• Steven Waddington as Jed Moody (series 1)
• Paul Higgins as Struan Loy (series 1)
• Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander (series 2-present)
• Kadiff Kirwan as Marcus Longridge (series 2-4)
• Joanna Scanlan as Moira Tregorian (series 4-present)
• Tom Brooke as J.K. Coe (series 4-present)

Others

• Notable other characters appearing in more than one series include:
  • Chris Reilly as Nick Duffy (series 1–3)
  • Chris Coghill as Hobbs (series 1 & 3)
  • Samuel West as Peter Judd MP
  • Freddie Fox as James “Spider” Webb (series 1–3)
  • Naomi Wirthner as Molly Doran (series 2–present)
  • Sean Gilder as “Bad” Sam Chapman (series 2–4)
  • Ruth Bradley as Emma Flyte (series 4–present)
  • James Callis as Claude Whelan (series 4–present)
• Notable other characters appearing in Series 1 (Slow Horses) include:
  • Antonio Aakeel as Hassan Ahmed
  • Paul Hilton as Robert Hobden
  • Sam Hazeldine as Moe
  • Brian Vernel as Curly
  • Stephen Walters as Zeppo
  • David Walmsley as Larry
  • James Faulkner as Charles Partner (in flashbacks)
• Notable other characters appearing in Series 2 (Dead Lions) include:
  • Rade Šerbedžija as Nikolai Katinsky
  • Marek Vašut as Andre Chernitsky
  • Alec Utgoff as Arkady Pashkin
  • Catherine McCormack as Alex Tropper
  • Adrian Rawlins as Duncan Tropper
  • Tamsin Topolski as Kelly Tropper
  • Phil Davis as Richard Bough, aka Dickie Bow
• Notable other characters appearing in Series 3 (Real Tigers) include:
  • Sion Young as Douglas
  • Charlie Rowe as Ben
  • Eliot Salt as Sarah
  • Gavin Spokes as Sly Monteith
  • Nick Blood as Sturges
• Notable other characters appearing in Series 4 (Spook Street) include:
  • Kiran Sonia Sawar as Giti Rahman
  • Tom Wozniczka as Patrice
  • Anna Wilson-Jones as Isobel Cartwright

Storyline:

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.

About Series:

Apple TV+ gave the series a straight-to-series order in October 2019. Each of the first five series is based on an individual book from the Slough House set. That same month, it was announced that Gary Oldman would star in the series. The cast was completed in December 2020 with the additions of Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Jack Lowden.

In June 2022, ahead of the second series premiere, the show was renewed for a third and fourth series, based on the novels Real Tigers and Spook Street. In January 2024, the program was renewed for a fifth series, which will adapt the fifth book, London Rules. Then, in October 2024, the show was renewed for a sixth series, based on the sixth and seventh books, Joe Country and Slough House.

Filming for the first series began on 30 November 2020 in England and continued into February 2021. Filming resumed in July 2021 in Stroud, Gloucestershire. Originally, the production was set to begin earlier in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

The first series, Slow Horses, premiered on Apple TV+ on 1 April 2022, followed by the second series, Dead Lions, on 2 December 2022. The third series, Real Tigers, premiered on 29 November 2023, and the fourth series, Spook Street, premiered on 4 September 2024. In January 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth installment, and in October 2024, it received a sixth series renewal.

Episodes:

Season	Subtitle	Episodes	First Released	Last Released
1	Slow Horses	6	1 April 2022	29 April 2022
2	Dead Lions	6	2 December 2022	30 December 2022
3	Real Tigers	6	29 November 2023	27 December 2023
4	Spook Street	6	4 September 2024	9 October 2024
5	London Rules	TBA	2025	TBA
6	Joe Country and Slough House	TBA	TBA	TBA

Season 1

Episode	Title	Air Date	Description
S1.E1	Failure’s Contagious	Fri, Apr 1, 2022	River Cartwright is ousted from MI5 and finds himself in a place worse than purgatory: Slough House, dumping ground for failed spies.
S1.E2	Work Drinks	Fri, Apr 1, 2022	River and Sid join forces. A misfired gun has dire consequences.
S1.E3	Bad Tradecraft	Fri, Apr 8, 2022	Slough House is the unlikely venue for a secret romance, but events take a dark turn when a dangerous encounter turns deadly.
S1.E4	Visiting Hours	Fri, Apr 15, 2022	Taverner sends the Dogs to hunt down Lamb and the Slow Horses. River holds the secret to saving the gang.
S1.E5	Fiasco	Fri, Apr 22, 2022	The gang must disappear to avoid capture by MI5. Lamb and River head to The Park to outwit Taverner.
S1.E6	Follies	Fri, Apr 29, 2022	Taverner and the Slow Horses attempt different approaches to locate the kidnappers and Hassan. Ho makes a shocking discovery about Sid.

Season 2

Episode	Title	Air Date	Description
S2.E1	Last Stop	Fri, Dec 2, 2022	Jackson Lamb is on high alert after a former spy is found dead. Min and Louisa are tempted by an offer from outside Slough House.
S2.E2	From Upshott with Love	Fri, Dec 2, 2022	Lamb liaises with a Russian defector who may hold a clue to sleeper agents. River is on the trail of a ruthless assassin.
S2.E3	Drinking Games	Fri, Dec 9, 2022	River gets cozy in the Cotswolds while searching for a sleeper agent. Min discovers Russian drinking games are the most brutal of all.
S2.E4	Cicada	Fri, Dec 16, 2022	Louisa makes her move on Pashkin. Catherine makes moves of a different kind when she plays high-stakes chess with a sinister stranger.
S2.E5	Boardroom Politics	Fri, Dec 23, 2022	Lamb orders his Slow Horses to walk into traps. River believes something alarming is heading toward London.
S2.E6	Old Scores	Fri, Dec 30, 2022	Lamb and Katinsky go head to head. Ho finds himself trapped on a train with a Russian assassin.

Season 3

Episode	Title	Air Date	Description
S3.E1	Strange Games	Wed, Nov 29, 2023	Lamb hits the panic button when one of his Slow Horses fails to show up for work.
S3.E2	Hard Lessons	Wed, Nov 29, 2023	River has to steal something out of the Park to save a life. Lamb realizes a stranger game is afoot.
S3.E3	Negotiating with Tigers	Wed, Dec 6, 2023	Marcus and Shirley face Lamb’s wrath. River discovers revenge is a dish best served cold.
S3.E4	Uninvited Guests	Wed, Dec 13, 2023	Tearney makes a bold decision. Unaware of their hidden agenda, the Slow Horses assist the tiger team. Meanwhile, Lamb and Ho go on a road trip.
S3.E5	Cleaning Up	Wed, Dec 20, 2023	Taverner and Tearney face off for control of MI5. River and Louisa find themselves caught in the crossfire.
S3.E6	Footprints	Wed, Dec 27, 2023	The Slow Horses fight for their lives. Lamb shares some devastating truths with Catherine.

Season 4

Episode	Title	Air Date	Description
S4.E1	Identity Theft	Wed, Sep 4, 2024	A London bombing puts Taverner under pressure. When River grows concerned for his grandfather, Louisa encourages him to go for a visit.
S4.E2	A Stranger Comes to Town	Wed, Sep 11, 2024	A naive agent makes a discovery about the Westacres bomber. Lamb suspects that David knows more than he’s letting on.
S4.E3	Penny for Your Thoughts	Wed, Sep 18, 2024	River is trapped in France. Back at Slough House, the Dogs have come for Lamb.
S4.E4	Returns	Tue, Sep 24, 2024	Taverner is desperate to hide dangerous secrets. River seeks answers at his grandfather’s house.
S4.E5	Grave Danger	Wed, Oct 2, 2024	Lamb questions David about France as River comes face to face with the enemy.
S4.E6	Hello Goodbye	Wed, Oct 9, 2024	Impossible decisions are faced and sacrifices are made.

Season 5

Coming Soon…