Original caricature by Jeff York of the main cast of SLOW HORSES (copyright 2025).
By the fifth season, most television shows start to wane. Not SLOW HORSES. Its new season premiering on Apple TV+ this Wednesday, September 24th has a timely and compelling plot about terrorism that makes it feel more immediate than ever, but it also contains more twists, laughs, and a greater ensemble feel than ever before. Not only that, but it might very well be cementing the character of Jackson Lamb as Gary Oldman’s best screen work, and that’s really saying something considering the storied career he’s had since 1986’s SID & NANCY. And as the main characters on ELSBETH, POKER FACE, and even the reboot of MATLOCK attempt to fill the eccentric shoes of COLUMBO, Lamb strikes me as the quintessential heir, shambling, snarking, and distracting everyone as he solves crimes and takes down the ruling class. Suffice it to say, it all makes for a spy series that feel utterly essential today. Not to mention, hugely entertaining.
This season’s story starts with a terrorist bomb going off in a popular square in the city of London, and the stakes are incredibly high as MI-6 scrambles to ensure the town is safe. Still, even with that heavy introduction, these six episodes might just be the knee-slapping funniest of the entire run. Why? For starters, the bombing suspicions become inextricably linked to Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) of all people. You’ll remember that he’s the self-absorbed tech nerd at Slough House. (Some might say “incel.” Ahem.) No one in his orbit can believe that a terrorist would rope in him in any way, but he’s hauled in as a suspect anyway. Soon enough, second chair Diana Taverner (played to a brilliant, slow boil once again by Kristen Scott Thomas) and the rest of the MI-6 elites are scrambling about, wondering if others in Slough House are being scapegoated, or perhaps, actually a part of the threats. Paranoia starts to get the best of everyone in the House and out, and then first chair doofus Claude Whelan (James Callis) pushes Taverner to the brink and she locks down all of Slough House. How do you think that goes over with the cantankerous Lamb and his island of misfit toys? Shenanigans and chaos ensue.
And even though everyone is trying to save London, a ticking clock of another potential attack there ever was one, it nonetheless makes for some of the funniest running gags in any season. It’s hilarious as the utterly odd couple pairing of River (Jack Lowden) and JK (Tom Brooke) attempt to work in tandem out in the field. Watching angry, tiny Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) catch a big, male shooter in a foot chase only to get beaten down and bested by his size, well it’s both unfortunate and amusing. And watching Lamb hold court in a swanky hotel bar while both chaperoning and belittling his fellow “horses” plays like a Friar’s Club Roast. This go-round, Oldman’s Lamb may be even more scruffy, grumpy, and gaseous than ever before, but he’s also quite a bit more caring too. His actions certainly seem to suggest that he’s actually warming to these screw-ups. And vice versa too.
The entire ensemble shines from series regular to guest star, and special kudos to Jonathan Pryce, Saskia Reeves, Ruth Bradley, Naomi Wirthner, and Nick Mohammed for making the most out of every moment they’re given in season five. The location shooting remains a marvel too, covering so much ground, but making every scene move with verve. It’s no wonder the show won an Emmy two weeks ago for its direction by Adam Randall, as this show juggles a lot of cast, story, and settings without ever becoming too unwieldy to understand. The writing may be funnier than ever, but it still makes a lot of pointed and searing commentary about the dangerous world we’re all living in today where black is white and up is down.
Indeed, for all the movies and shows out there starting to editorialize about the nuttiness of today’s world, SLOW HORSES might just be the one with its finger most firmly on the pulse. Over five seasons, the series’ dark comic sensibilities have leaned in ever more towards the absurd. In doing so, does season five veer over the top, into the realm of ludicrousness? Quite the contrary. The nuts in Slough House couldn’t be more in tune with their times.
