Slow Horses is a six-part British spy thriller now on Apple TV Plus, with Academy Award-winner Gary Oldman leading the cast. It's an adaptation of author Mick Herron’s Slough House series of spy novels.
Slow Horses follows a team of MI5 intelligence agents who share a common bond — they’ve all messed up their careers and have been sent to Slough House, the dumping ground department of MI5, to carry out paper-pushing tasks as a result.
Oscar-winner Gary Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, their miserable boss who expects them to quit out of sheer boredom. Also starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden, Olivia Cooke and Freddie Fox, Slow Horses sees the spies called back into action when they become drawn into a deadly kidnapping case.
So here's everything you need to know about Slow Horses on Apple TV Plus...
Slow Horses review: Where the spy rejects go
When is the next Slow Horses episode?
All episodes of Slow Horses season 1 are now available to stream on Apple TV Plus.
Is there a Slow Horses trailer?
Apple TV Plus has released its trailer for Slow Horses so we can see Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Freddie Fox, Olivia Cooke and Jack Lowden in action as the washed up spies trying to prove themselves. Take a good look below...
Slow Horses plot
Slow Horses is set in a grotty office block called Slough House in London. It's the department where washed-up MI5 agents go to see out what’s left of their working lives. The series follows these 'slow horses' who have all made excruciating, career-ending mistakes.
One such screw-up is River Cartwright (played by Jack Lowden) who is bitter about his failure and resents spending his time transcribing phone conversations. But then a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to behead him live on the Internet. River sees a chance to redeem himself and dives in to solve the case but he soon realises that nothing is quite what it seems and everyone is pushing their own agenda.
Here are the synopses for the Slow Horses episodes released so far:
Slow Horses season 1 episode 1, "Failure's Contagious":
"River Cartwright is ousted from MI5 and finds himself in a place worse than purgatory: Slough House, dumping ground for failed spies."
Slow Horses season 1 episode 2, "Work Drinks":
"River and Sid join forces. A misfired gun has dire consequences."
Slow Horses season 1 episode 3, "Bad Tradecraft":
"Slough House is the unlikely venue for a secret romance, but events take a dark turn when a dangerous encounter turns deadly."
Slow Horses season 1 episode 4, "Visiting Hours":
"Taverner sends the Dogs to hunt down Lamb and the Slow Horses. River holds the secret to saving the gang."
Slow Horses season 1 episode 5, "Fiasco"
"The gang must disappear to avoid capture by MI5. Lamb and River head to The Park to outwit Taverner."
Slow Horses season 1 episode 6, "Follies"
"Taverner and the Slow Horses attempt different approaches to locate the kidnappers and Hassan. Ho makes a shocking discovery about Sid."
Slow Horses cast — Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb
In Slow Horses Gary Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, the deeply revolting boss of Slough House. Gary first rose to fame playing the Sex Pistols musician Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy in 1986. He’s since played Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, and Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies. He won an Oscar for his role as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017) but was also nominated for his star turns as John Le Carre's famous spy George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and Mank (2020). He’s also been in The Firm, True Romance, The Fifth Element, and The Dark Knight Trilogy.
Who else is starring in Slow Horses?
There are plenty more big British stars in Slow Horses. Kristin Scott Thomas plays Diana Taverner, the deputy director of Slough House. Kristin first won our hearts as Fiona in Four Weddings and a Funeral and went on to star in the English Patient, The Horse Whisperer, and The Other Boleyn Girl.
Rising star Jack Lowden, famous for war film Dunkirk, wrestling comedy movie Fighting with my Family, plus BBC1's War and Peace, is playing frustrated River Cartwright while Freddie Fox, who starred in White House Farm, plays Spider Webb. Vanity Fair star Olivia Cooke is Sid Baker while Jonathan Pryce, Sophie Okonedo, Rosalind Eleazar, and Dustin Demri-Burns also star in the series.
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