'Slow Horses' Survives Its Biggest Behind-the-Scenes Shake-Up Yet

Apple TV’s “Slow Horses” returned Wednesday for a sixth season under new creative leadership, and the transition barely registers on screen. Gaby Chiappe, creator of “The Beast Must Die,” took over as lead writer after Will Smith departed at the end of Season 5 to pursue other projects, becoming the first person to guide the spy thriller’s scripts without him since the show began in 2022.

Chiappe described stepping into the role as thrilling and nerve-wracking in equal measure. She resisted the idea that she simply replaced Smith, noting he oversaw far more than scripts alone. “In the middle of the process, there was a Will-shaped hole,” she said, explaining that she absorbed only one piece of what he used to handle.

Star Gary Oldman, who plays the irascible Jackson Lamb, called the handoff “pretty seamless.” He credited five seasons of accumulated character work and Mick Herron’s source novels for giving the cast a foundation sturdy enough to withstand any wobble in the writers’ room. Director Adam Randall, who shot the acclaimed fourth season and returned for all of Season 6, also helped keep the set familiar despite the departure.

The premiere leans into violence early. Former Slough House agent Struan Loy, played by Paul Higgins, is beaten and left to burn by two assassins before the episode’s end, and the same killers later drown a second ex-agent and turn their attention to River Cartwright, played by Jack Lowden. River spends the hour preparing to bury his grandfather David, whose death leaves him isolated at what Chiappe called “a really, really low ebb.” Lamb, by contrast, treats the funeral with open indifference, a gap in emotional register that Chiappe said reflects how little affection Lamb held for the elder Cartwright.

Season 6 marks the first time the show has folded two Herron novels, “Joe Country” and “Slough House,” into a single run rather than adapting one book per season. Early reviews have been largely favorable, with several critics ranking it among the strongest seasons yet, even as some note that Chiappe’s scripts carry a different comic rhythm than Smith’s. Apple has already lined up a successor for Season 7: “All Creatures Great and Small” creator Ben Vanstone. New episodes air Wednesdays through an October 21 finale.