Apple TV+’s British spy series Slow Horses is all set to return with its second installment this holiday season. In Season 1, we saw the formerly disgraced MI5 agents who were thrown into the Slough House for a doomed career reinvent themselves and prove their merits as spies in the first season. And now, the team is getting back together once again to stop another threat, as some long-buried Cold War secrets resurface and hint at a disaster that could engulf the United Kingdom. The series is based on British novelist Mick Herron’s The Slough House book series. The first season was adapted from the first book Slow Horses, and the second season takes from the sequel in the same series, titled Dead Lion, which was published in 2013.

Soon after the first season premiere in April 2022, Slow Horses got a green light in June 2022 for not just a second season, but also a third and fourth seasons. Seasons 3 and 4 also follow the chronological order of the book series and are said to be based on the novels Real Tigers and Spook Street respectively. It looks like the Slough Housers are not so incompetent after all, and Jackson Lamb’s team isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. William James Smith, a director, writer, and comedian known for hit series like Black Mirror and Penny Dreadful, continues as the writer of Slow Horses Season 2, along with Morwenna Banks, Jonny Stockwood, and Mark Denton. Smith also continues to serve as an executive producer for the Apple TV+ original series alongside Iain Canning, Hakan Kousetta, Jamie Laurenson, Gail Mutrux, Emile Sherman, Douglas Urbanski, and Graham Yost. Slow Horses Season 2 also has a new director, Jeremy Lovering, who is best known for recently directing the 2021 Netflix series, The One.

If you have watched and liked the first season of Slow Horses, then you are probably looking forward to the second season as well. And if you haven’t, then you can catch up on the previous season on Apple TV+ right now. Meanwhile, check out the release date, plot, trailer, and everything we know so far about Slow Horses Season 2.

Gary Oldman as the lead cast in Slow Horses Season 2
Image via Apple TV+

Related:‘Slow Horses’: Watch the First 20 Minutes of Gary Oldman’s Apple TV+ Spy Series

When Is Slow Horses Season 2 Coming Out?

Slow Horses Season 2 is set to premiere on Friday, December 2, 2022, exclusively on Apple TV+.

Watch the Slow Horses Season 2 Trailer

If we can sum up the plotline of the second season of Slow Horses, then it’s Cartwright’s voiceover that says “more people are going to die”, which is also the crux of the official trailer, released this October. This menacing claim is enough to tell you that you can expect more carnage and deaths in the new season of the thrilling spy series. The second season's narrative also carries forward the flavor and feel from the earlier season. Once again, there's high-octane thrilling action, intense drama, and suspense of a world-ending plot from enemy nations, not to mention, the dark, understated humor that is kind of signature of old man Lamb, which still hasn’t rubbed off on his team members. But they all agree on their end goal, which is to save the day, despite being disgraced by their agency and government, and reclaim their worth to MI5.

The trailer also reveals that the plot of Slow Horses Season 2 also includes high-level treason, and it could prove challenging for the Slough House team to crack it and confront it because it’s not just their careers but also their lives on the line. When the series launched in April 2022, we had said that this modern-era spy thriller series could have potential and the trailer of the second season proves it correct. If the promos are any indication of how the new season will turn out, then rest assured, you are in for an exciting ride.

Related:Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden on ‘Slow Horses,’ Future Series Plans, and Filming a Huge Action Scene at a London Airport

How Many Episodes Are There in Slow Horses Season 2?

slow horses image Kristin Scott Thomas
Image via Apple TV+

Slow Horses Season 2 is following the same episode schedule as the first season and has six episodes in total. The first two episodes are releasing together on the day of the premiere, i.e., on December 2, 2022. Following that, each new episode will stream weekly, every Friday, only on Apple TV+. Check out all the details released so far about the episodes of Slow Horses Season 2 below:

Episode 1: "Last Stop" - December 2, 2022

Directed by: Jeremy Lovering | Written by: Will Smith

Episode 2: "From Upshott with Love" - December 2, 2022

Directed by: Jeremy Lovering | Written by: Morwenna Banks

Episode 3: "Drinking Games" - December 9, 2022

Directed by: Jeremy Lovering | Written by: Morwenna Banks

Episode 4: "Cicada" - December 16, 2022

Directed by: Jeremy Lovering | Written by: Mark Denton and Jonny Stockwood

Episode 5: "Boardroom Politics" - December 23, 2022

Directed by: Jeremy Lovering | Written by: Mark Denton and Jonny Stockwood

Episode 6: "Old Scores" - January 6, 2023

Directed by: Jeremy Lovering | Written by: Will Smith

Related:'Slow Horses' Review: Solid Performances Help Anchor an Espionage Series That Seems Unsure of Its Identity

Who's In the Slow Horses Season 2 Cast?

slow-horses-gary-oldman-jack-lowden-dustin-demri-burns-christopher-chung-rosalind-eleazar-saskia-reeves
Image via Apple TV+

The leads and some recurring characters from the first season are reprising their roles for Slow Horses Season 2. The ensemble cast is headlined by Academy Award-winner Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the slovenly head of Slough House; BAFTA Scotland Award-winner Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, the up-and-coming newbie at Slough House; and Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner, the Deputy Director-General of MI5.

The second season’s cast also sees the return of Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish, Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy, Dustin Demri-Burns as Min Harper, Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho, Freddie Fox as James Webb, Chris Reilly as Nick Duffy, and Samuel West as MP Peter Judd, among others. Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan, and Academy Award nominee Jonathan Pryce also feature in various roles.

What Is Slow Horses Season 2 About?

Slow Horses Season 2 takes off from where Season 1 ended. An explosive ending marked the finale of the first season, and Lamb and his team finally managed to reclaim their reputation as good agents and gain the attention of their higher-ups at MI5. Jackson Lamb, as is his nature, seems perfectly happy to get back to his earlier, monotonous routine and encourage his fellow agents to do the same. But it appears that trouble has a way of wiggling its way into Slough House and stirring things up all over again. Even the agents have gotten a taste of cracking difficult tasks and they wouldn’t sit still anymore. So, when some long-lost secrets of the Cold War come to light, and a team of Russian sleeper agents is reactivated, Slough Housers see terror looming large on London, and perhaps the rest of the world. Now, they must get their heads back in the game and race against time to stop a major catastrophe.