MI-5 agents ramp up in third season of ‘Slow Horses’
The phrase “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” may or may not be true, but Apple TV+ has proven that, at least when it comes to horses, even the slowest ones can gain speed. Based on the Slough House book series by English novelist Mick Herron, “Slow Horses” begins its third season with two fresh episodes Friday, Dec. 1, on Apple TV+.
The first season of the Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour,” 2017) -led series kicked off on the streamer in April 2022 and made good use of Herron’s first Slough House novel, “Slow Horses,” for which the show’s is named. Season 2 continued the author’s saga, taking its plot details from the literary series’ second book, “Dead Lions.” Now, heading into its third season to be released within a year and a half, the newest instalment will follow the tradition of pulling content chronologically from the novels, this time focusing on Herron’s “Real Tigers,” the third book in the series.
On screen, the spy dramedy follows a group of aging and disgraced MI-5 agents, who all appear to have lived out their usefulness within the high-ranking British espionage organization. As such, the agents have been relegated to another department, “known un-affectionately as Slough House,” a low-stakes operation for agents who have made “career-ending mistakes.”
Slough House is headed up by “brilliant but misanthropic leader” Jackson Lamb (Oldman), and also acts as a sort of workplace home to recovering alcoholic Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves, “Luther”); former hactivist Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung, “Waterloo Road”); Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar, “Uncle Vanya,” 2020), assigned to Slough House following a botched tailing job; and River Cartwright (Jack Lowden, “Dunkirk,” 2017), whose desire to redeem himself in the field set the tone for the premiere season.
Headed into Season 3, many Season 1 and/or 2 characters are expected to return, including Lamb; Cartwright; Ho; Guy and Standish; MI-5 director general and head of operations Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas, “Gosford Park,” 2001); Cartright’s grandfather, retired intelligence officer David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” 2003); and MI-5 agent James “Spider” Webb (Freddie Fox, “Victor Frankenstein,” 2015).
Some of the best news for fans of the show, however, is that Season 4 is also confirmed. Beginning strong with a two-episode premiere, the third season releases episodes weekly until Dec. 29. While the Season 4 release date has yet to be announced, entertainment sites expect it to arrive sometime in 2024.