Apple is certainly not taking its time with the spy drama Slow Horses. According to Variety, the show has been given an extended renewal for Seasons 3 and 4, and all we’ve seen so far is a debut season that ran for six episodes. Based on the books by Mick Herron, Slow Horses had initially been given a two-season order. The double-season renewal is a sign of great confidence in the show, and perhaps an overeager move to lock down the services of its Oscar-winning star, Gary Oldman.
Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the head of an outcast department of the MI5 known as Slough House. Lamb appears to have settled into his punishment posting but is called to action after his team stumbles upon an issue of national importance. Slow Horses is part workplace comedy, part espionage thriller, with a healthy dollop of dark humor.
The first season, which debuted in April, was based on the first book in the Jackson Lamb series, also titled Slow Horses. The second season, which is expected to debut later this year, is based on the book Dead Lions. The third and fourth seasons will be based on the books Real Tigers and Spook Street, respectively.
In the third season, Lamb’s disgraced spies must work together when one of their own is kidnapped, while a rogue agent is on the loose. The fourth season reportedly deals with a bombing that threatens to rock the very foundations of Slough House. Saul Metzstein is set to direct the third season, though no director for the fourth season has been announced. James Hawes directed Season 1, and Jeremy Lovering directs the second season premiering later this year.
Slow Horses appears to be quickly becoming a flagship title for Apple TV+, which is arguably having its best-ever year. The streamer debuted three acclaimed series in quick succession—The Afterparty, Severance, and Pachinko—and won an Oscar for CODA. Oldman is certainly quite pleased with the gig. He suggested in a recent interview with Deadline that he’d be happy to hang up his boots after playing Lamb on Slow Horses. In his own words:
“Yeah, I could see myself playing Jackson for the next how many years. Absolutely. I mean, for those that love the books and that were Mick Herron devotees as it were, he is already an iconic character. So, if it were to go out with a bang, I mean, retirement is on the horizon. Yeah. I can see it.”
Adapted for television by Will Smith (not that one), the series also features Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Freddie Fox, Chris Reilly, Samuel West, Sophie Okonedo, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan, and Jonathan Pryce. Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Douglas Urbanski, Gail Mutrux, Smith, Jane Robertson, and Graham Yost serve as executive producers. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.