Harsh Vardhan
The filming of the fifth season of Apple TV+’s spy thriller ‘Slow Horses’ is set to commence in London, England, this summer. Will Smith, the showrunner of the series, will return for the fifth installment.
The fifth season will adapt Mick Herron’s novel ‘London Rules,’ the fifth novel in the ‘Slough House’ book series. The literary work revolves around Roddy Ho’s suspicious but glamorous new girlfriend. When a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city of London, the Slow Horses set out to unravel the mystery and connection behind these happenings. “After all, Jackson Lamb knows that in the world of espionage, ‘London Rules’ should always apply,'” the logline of the novel further reads.
The third season, which finished its run on December 27, 2023, ends with tension reaching its peak as River, Louisa, and Sean attempt a daring escape through the tunnels. Sean sacrifices himself to buy them time, while Marcus and Shirley face gunfire from troops. Shirley manages to eliminate the threat and rescues River and Louisa. Meanwhile, Jackson orchestrates a chaotic defense of the house, employing ingenious traps. The Ho-sold Cavalry arrives, ensuring the team’s survival, but the house is destroyed.
As season 3 progresses towards its conclusion, Ingrid tries to control the narrative but Diana suspects something is amiss. River delivers the damning files to his grandfather, who burns them to protect Tearney’s reputation. Jackson reveals Charles’ betrayal to Catherine, leading her to quit. River, not Jackson, leaks the files, and Diana becomes First Desk, inheriting the fallout from the chaotic mission. With Catherine gone, Jackson contemplates leading Slough House without one of his key assets.
The upcoming fourth installment is an adaptation of the fourth novel ‘Spook Street,’ in which a former spy descends into madness, embarking on a destructive rampage, including bombing a crowded shopping mall. The personal connections within this narrative are likely central to season 4, forcing the Slough House members to confront their shortcomings and reflect on the true nature of being an MI5 agent.
In the fourth season, we can expect to see Gary Oldman continue portraying Jackson Lamb, along with Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner, Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy, Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho, Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander, Kadiff Kirwan as Marcus Longridge, and Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright. We can expect them to feature in the fifth season as well.
The first two seasons of the show were released with a short interval between them as they premiered in April and December of 2022 respectively. Although a more extended break ensued before the release of season 3, the back-to-back production of the third and fourth installments suggests that the viewers can anticipate season 4 to release towards the end of this year. As far as the fifth season is concerned, we may need to wait till the second half of 2025.
In addition to his role as a showrunner and writer, Will Smith also serves as an executive producer. The other executive producers include Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Douglas Urbanski, Gail Mutrux, Julian Stevens, and Graham Yost. London, the principal location of the fifth season, also hosted the filming of the show’s earlier seasons. The city continues to be a prominent center for film and television productions, with notable last-year releases like ‘Barbie‘ and ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One‘ emerging from the English capital.
Read More: Was Slow Horses Written by Actor Will Smith?
