Slow Horses trots to early season six renewal

Talk about slow and steady.

The Gary Oldman spy thriller Slow Horses has accomplished something incredibly rare in the streaming age – it has scored a season six renewal. Apple TV+ confirmed the news on Wednesday morning.

The series wrapped its fourth season last week and had in January already been greenlit for a fifth. This decision will ensure fans will have at least two further instalments of the popular show that has gained momentum since its debut.

Slow Horses stars Oldman as Jackson Lamb, a slovenly Cold War-era spy who leads a group of “put out to pasture” operatives who have been exiled to Slough House because they’ve stuffed up or annoyed the wrong person.

Despite their low status within MI5, the team often find themselves embroiled in high-stakes plots, including terror attacks and kidnapping.

The series also stars Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves and Roddy Ho. Notable guests or previous stars have included Hugo Weaving, Katherine Waterston, Jonathan Pryce and Olivia Cooke.

Slow Horses is based on Mick Herron’s novels. The sixth season will be based on the books Joe Country and Slough House.

The show has been an outlier in the streaming era. Unlike many high-profile streaming shows, Slow Horses has been on a fast-tracked schedule, having already released four seasons since April 2022.

Many streaming series including Squid Game, Bridgerton and Stranger Things will often have breaks of more than two years.

There is no confirmation yet for season five and six release dates.

It is also unusual for a streaming show to go beyond a third season with most platforms’ business models focused on acquisition of new subscribers, which favours buzzy, fresh titles rather than long-standing ones.

Slow Horses has been nominated for a raft of Emmy and BAFTA awards including for Oldman. Series creator Will Smith won an Emmy last month for writing for a drama series.

Season four scored 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.