The misfit spies of Slough House are returning soon — and, if the first look at Season 5 of Slow Horses is any indication, things are sure to get messy in the best possible way.
Apple TV+ has just unveiled a first look at (and official release date for) the new season of its fan-favorite spy series, the Emmy- and BAFTA-winning espionage drama starring Gary Oldman as the gloriously disheveled Jackson Lamb, and the show looks set to deliver another round of chaos, gallows humor, and deeply dysfunctional spycraft when the series returns this fall. The new season premieres globally on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, kicking off with two episodes, followed by weekly drops through October 22.
The fifth season continues the show’s mix of sleuthing, sarcasm, and all-around mayhem. This time, the story arc is based on London Rules — book #5 in Mick Herron’s Slough House series of spy novels. The spotlight falls on tech whiz Roddy Ho, who turns heads when he shows up with an unexpectedly glamorous new girlfriend. But when strange things start happening across London, strange even by Slough House standards, it’s up to Lamb’s ragtag team of disgraced agents to figure out how it’s all connected.
In typical Slow Horses fashion, they’ll probably blow something up or insult someone important along the way. The real fun, though, always comes from watching the team stumble their way toward heroism under the perpetually unimpressed gaze of their HR nightmare of a spymaster.
Oldman, who has racked up awards recognition for his role, leads a returning ensemble for the upcoming season that includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, and more. Season 5 also welcomes Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed as a guest star, adding another strong talent to a show already loaded with such.
I’ve made this point in a previous review, but it’s worth repeating: Slough House itself is practically a character in its own right in this spectacular drama — Slough House being the crumbling outpost near the Barbican where the “slow horses” themselves work, in a space that’s more janitorial closet than office space. Overflowing bins, stale takeaway containers, and hand-me-down tech (except Roddy’s sacred computer rig) are all part of the scenery, and all overseen by Lamb — a belching Cold War relic in ill-fitting clothes who seems to loathe everyone under his command, yet always ends up being the sharpest mind in the room.
The agents who haunt these moldy halls are defined not by slick suits or Bond-level gadgetry, but rather by hangovers, regrets, and just enough grit to still make a difference. In the world of Slow Horses, the spies are screwups and burnouts. But these screwups also turn into reluctant heroes from time to time, bungling their way into saving the day. As Season 5 approaches, it looks like they’ll once again be proving that no matter how low you’ve fallen, a spy can still punch above his or her weight in the shadows.
