A longtime collaborator of Gary Oldman and an executive producer of Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, Doug Urbanski is helping steer the acclaimed spy drama through an unusually ambitious run. The series returns September 24 with Season 5 and, in a vote of confidence rare for streaming, has already been renewed through Season 7, with Apple saying the next chapter adapts Mick Herron’s Bad Actors.
Urbanski has described the show’s creative philosophy in brisk, almost bartending terms: “We try to make the perfect martini and keep the formula going,” he said in a recent interview, adding that Season 5 is “the most fun and the most silly” to date—language that suggests the series will continue to balance gallows humor with high peril.
Behind the scenes, Slow Horses is navigating a planned handoff. Writer-EP Will Smith—who has effectively served as showrunner—will depart after Season 5; writers Gabby Chiappe and Ben Vanstone are set to lead Seasons 6 and 7, respectively, as the drama continues its book-by-book approach. The streamer has emphasized continuity, with production for the later seasons already mapped out.
Urbanski’s influence on the franchise grows out of a three-decade partnership with Oldman that spans acting and producing. He earned an Academy Award nomination as a producer of David Fincher’s Mank and, as an actor, made a memorably acerbic turn as Larry Summers in The Social Network—credits that underline his dual vantage point on performance and production.
The show’s expansion comes as Apple touts Slow Horses as an Emmy- and BAFTA-winning flagship, while critics have cited its sharp writing and Oldman’s gruff, magnetic Jackson Lamb as reasons for its staying power. With Season 5 dated and Season 7 ordered, Urbanski’s mandate—tune the series precisely without losing its bite—appears intact.
Oldman has previously mused that retirement could follow the end of his run as Lamb, yet he has also said he could happily keep playing the character for years, a tension that underscores the stakes of maintaining the show’s quality. For now, Urbanski’s “perfect martini” approach signals more Slough House intrigue ahead.
