Slow Horses Season 5 Release Date Confirmed: Biggest Updates and Surprises So Far
Buckle up: the new season barrels into Mick Herron's fifth novel London Rules, cranking the intrigue and fallout to a fever pitch.
Heads up: spoilers ahead for Slow Horses seasons 1-4.
Slow Horses is back yet again, barely a year after season 4. Season 5 pulls from Mick Herron’s fifth Slough House novel, London Rules, and swings the spotlight to Christopher Chung’s resident keyboard gremlin, Roddy Ho. He shows up with a glamorous new girlfriend, everyone at Slough House smells trouble, and, shocker, they’re probably right. Also worth noting: Herron says the show takes some interesting swings away from the book this time — tweaks he liked, and a few he even pushed for. Translation: book readers, don’t get too comfy.
When it drops (and how Apple’s rolling it out)
Apple TV+ starts season 5 with two episodes on Wednesday 24th September, then goes weekly until the finale lands on Wednesday 22nd October.
This show has been weirdly punctual: seasons 1 and 2 in 2022, season 3 in November 2023, season 4 in September 2024, and now this fifth run about a year later. Apple officially renewed season 5 back in January 2024, and seasons 6 and 7 are already locked in too. One change behind the scenes: this is the last season with showrunner Will Smith, who has now exited the series.
What season 5 is actually about
London Rules is the template, but not a straitjacket. Apple’s logline keeps it tight:
'In season 5 of Slow Horses, everyone is suspicious when resident tech nerd Roddy Ho has a glamorous new girlfriend. When a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city, it falls to the Slow Horses to work out how everything is connected. After all, Jackson Lamb knows that in the world of espionage, the London Rules - cover your back - always apply.'
If you want the book’s broader chessboard: MI5’s new boss, Claude Whelan, gets thrown straight into the fire trying to protect an embattled Prime Minister, while political showboats (and a tabloid columnist wife) take aim at him in public. Diana Taverner — never one to miss an opportunity — watches for his slip-ups. Meanwhile, a string of seemingly random terror incidents rocks the country, and over at Slough House the crew is juggling grief, vices, and the nagging feeling that their newest colleague might be an actual psychopath. Also, because they’re the Slow Horses, they’re uniquely talented at making a bad situation significantly worse. The show’s not obligated to mirror all of this, but that’s the flavor.
Who’s back (and who isn’t)
Most of the usual suspects return. Season 4’s ending hinted we might have seen the last of Jonathan Pryce’s David Cartwright after River parked him in a retirement home, but he’s back in the mix. On the flip side, Kadiff Kirwan’s Marcus Longridge is out after that season 4 finale gut-punch. There are a couple of notable new faces too.
- Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb
- Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner
- Jack Lowden as River Cartwright
- Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish
- Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy
- Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho
- Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander
- Ruth Bradley as Emma Flyte
- Tom Brooke as JK Coe
- James Callis as Claude Whelan
- Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright
- Nick Mohammed as Zafar Jaffrey
- Hiba Bennani as Tara
The Hugo Weaving of it all
Hugo Weaving’s Frank Harkness will show up again, but don’t hold your breath for season 5. He’s expected to return in season 6. Weaving said as much at the International Film Festival of India in Goa (as reported by Variety), adding that he’s due in London in January 2025 for a two-and-a-half month shoot. He also noted the show is catching up to Herron’s books, and it isn’t afraid to detour from them.
If you watched season 4, you know Frank basically played his Get Out of Jail Free card. He knows MI5 — and David Cartwright — tried to set him up, which makes him dangerously bulletproof. As he put it on the way out: 'I’ll get the next train.' Slippery, survivor, etc.
Trailer status
Yes, there’s a trailer. Apple has it up now if you want a quick mood read before the premiere.
The bottom line
Slow Horses season 5 premieres Wednesday 24th September on Apple TV+. Episodes drop weekly through Wednesday 22nd October. Seasons 1-4 are streaming now. New season, new mess, same London Rules: cover your back.