These days, it seems like some TV shows don’t know if they will survive on a week-to-week basis, let alone years into the future. Even well-regarded shows seemingly only get renewed season-on-season. All of which makes Slow Horses stand out. Apple TV+ has renewed it for a seventh season.
The twist is that this renewal has been made even before the fifth season is released. The fifth season won’t be on screens until late this year. With a seventh season, the show officially becomes Apple TV+’s longest-running scripted series in terms of seasons.
Slow Horses is based on author Mick Herron’s Slough House series of books. Slough House is where you get sent if you are an MI5 employee who has messed up. Relegated away from the centre of the Security Service to do the donkey work of low-level intelligence. Heavy lifting, like checking endless CCTV footage or analysing parking tickets.
There, under the leadership of a grumpy former Cold War warrior with bad manners and even worse personal hygiene, this group of outcasts and misfits stumbles across threats that others miss, or dismiss, and finds themselves unhappily tethered to crucial matters of national security.
The show is highly rated and acclaimed. The blend of dark comedy and espionage seemingly chimes with audiences, with the self-deprecating humor intertwined with political machinations and conspiracies.
The sixth season combines the sixth and seventh books – Joe Country and Slough House – while the seventh season will adapt the novel Bad Actors. That book follows Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb and the rest of the Slough House team as they try to track down a mole inside the British government.
Jay Hunt, creative director for Europe at Apple TV+, says in a statement:
“Slow Horses has won fans all over the world with its unique mix of self-deprecating British humor and high-octane action. I’m delighted viewers will have another season to enjoy Gary’s magnificent performance as Jackson Lamb alongside the Slow Horses’ slightly inept spycraft.”
Slow Horses is tipped to be a contender at the upcoming Emmy Awards for a Best Drama Series nomination alongside Andor.
