Six seasons in four years. That is the pace Gary Oldman and the Slow Horses team have maintained since the show premiered on Apple TV in 2022, and they are not slowing down.
Season 6 of the spy thriller debuts September 16 on Apple TV, with episodes releasing weekly on Wednesdays. By the time it premieres, season 7 will already be in the can and season 8 will be in production. The show has earned 23 Emmy nominations and two wins across its run.
Oldman has been one of the loudest voices pushing for the faster turnaround. According to Screen Rant, he made his case plainly at the Edinburgh TV Festival. "You invest in these people, these fictional people, and then the show ends, and you've got to wait two and a half years," he said in favor of the more rapid approach to filming.
At the same event, Oldman spoke about his character Jackson Lamb, the gruff, unfiltered head of Slough House, a dumping ground for disgraced MI-5 agents. "He has no filter, he is direct, he can't be arsed with the social norms. That's the fun of playing him," Oldman told interviewer Edith Bowman.
Season 6 centers on someone hunting and killing former members of Slough House, forcing the team to go underground. The season also brings back two familiar faces. Rosalind Eleazar, who played Louisa Guy through the first four seasons before leaving in season 5, returns. More surprising is the return of Olivia Cooke as Sid Baker, a character last seen in season 1 who was presumed dead after apparently being shot in the head. In the season 6 trailer, Baker appears at the top of a staircase, greeting a stunned River Cartwright, played by Jack Lowden.
Cartwright also faces the fallout from his grandfather's death. The grandfather was played by Jonathan Pryce. On top of that, Cartwright must contend with his untrustworthy father's reappearance.
The show was created by Mick Herron and also stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, and Christopher Chung.
Season 6 of Slow Horses premieres September 16 on Apple TV.
