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Season 1 – Slow Horses

Play trailer 2:06 Poster for Season 1 – Slow Horses Apr 2022 Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
95% Tomatometer 60 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A dysfunctional team of MI5 agents and their obnoxious boss, the notorious Jackson Lamb, navigate the espionage world's smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces.

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Slow Horses — Season 1

Slow Horses — Season 1

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Critics Consensus

Slow Horses refreshes the espionage genre by letting its band of snoops be bumbling, with Gary Oldman giving a masterclass in frumpy authority.

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Critics Reviews

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James Jackson The Times (UK) 08/05/2022
There is a bit of barbed humour here, yet it’s also a surprise how unthrilling it is for a spy thriller. Go to Full Review
Adam White Independent (UK) 04/01/2022
4/5
If the terrorist plotting feels dated at times, there’s enough elsewhere to make up for it. Principally, the show’s stars, with Oldman and Scott Thomas a particularly fizzy double act. Go to Full Review
Caroline Framke Variety 04/01/2022
By season’s end, Slow Horses feels more familiar than truly innovative, albeit with some sharper acting and jokes than most others it’s following. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com 03/24/2025
5/5
… intricate black-ops, London backdrops and mouthy spies... Slow Horses does these things so ridiculously well in comparison with most spy series; you’d have to go back to John le Carre’s The Night Manager to find one as tightly-ratcheted as this… Go to Full Review
Pradeep Menon Firstpost 10/10/2023
By the time you have fallen for the plot and the world Slow Horses, you would have fallen for Gary Oldman as well. Or vice-versa. Go to Full Review
Ana Yorke PopMatters 12/27/2022
While Slow Horses’ story brings little new to the spy genre, the plotting is tight, the dialogues are exquisitely written, and the cast is uniformly superb. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Ken D @mynameisken Mar 23 it's confusing and messy. I never know what's going on and I don't care. how does this train wreck have 5 seasons?! insane. See more Kurt K. @Kurtosaurus Jan 29 Amazing show. The cast and story are riveting. See more Gert E @GertAFE Jan 2 I loved it and I enjoyed it on many levels. What it may lack in thrilling tension, it very generously compensates with acting, dialogue, wit and dark humour. Mind, I binged it nevertheless and that's not really a habit of mine. See more Colin B @ColinDeBin Dec 24 It's cringe. The show fancies itself much smarter and funnier than it really is. The British can't seem to produce spy thrillers (or dark comedy) like they used to. Admittedly I gave up after only an episode, so perhaps it picks up as the show goes on. I really doubt it, though. I felt I'd seen enough to get a good enough idea of what the writers are capable of. I fear in this instance we have a fault that is ubiquitous throughout TV drama these days, namely people who aren't especially bright trying to write the dialogue of characters they imagine to be whipsmart. It never works. It's frustrating that it's only really the writing that holds a show like this back. They've clearly got a budget, visually it's interesting, there are some high-caliber actors here - but the writing feels like amateur hour. That's not something you can get away with in a spy thriller... See more Jesse Y @Je6714 Dec 18 It alternated between boring and poorly thought out. I suppose it was meant to survive on not so witty banter. Don’t get me wrong. The dialogue isn’t bad. It just can’t carry a show that plods its way to demonstrating that the writers don’t know how things work. See more Paula T @pcool90 Dec 14 Whatched all non stop. Loved it. See more Read all reviews
Slow Horses — Season 1

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Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Apr 1, 2022 Failure's Contagious River Cartwright is ousted from MI5 and finds himself in a place worse than purgatory, Slough House, the dumping ground for failed spies. Details Episode 2 Aired Apr 1, 2022 Work Drinks River and Sid join forces; a misfired gun has dire consequences. Details Episode 3 Aired Apr 8, 2022 Bad Tradecraft Slough House is an unlikely venue for a secret romance, but events take a dark turn when a dangerous encounter becomes deadly. Details Episode 4 Aired Apr 15, 2022 Visiting Hours Taverner sends the Dogs to hunt down Lamb and the Slow Horses; River holds the secret to saving the gang. Details Episode 5 Aired Apr 22, 2022 Fiasco The Slow Horses disappear to avoid capture by MI5; Lamb and River head to The Park to outwit Taverner. Details Episode 6 Aired Apr 29, 2022 Follies Taverner and the Slow Horses attempt different approaches to locate the kidnappers and Hassan; Ho makes a discovery about Sid. Details
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Season Info

Director
James Hawes
Executive Producer
Graham Yost, James Hawes, Will Smith, Douglas Urbanski, Gail Mutrux, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta
Screenwriter
Will Smith, Mark Denton, Morwenna Banks, Jonny Stockwood
Network
Apple TV
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date
Apr 1, 2022
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