Slow Horses Season 6 Sets New All-Time Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Record

Published Sep 21, 2026, 2:06 PM EDT

Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019 and is now one of the leading contributors of the TV News team. Having written over 4000 news stories in that time , with his work cited in Buzzfeed and TV Insider, he's always bemoaning that there's too many shows and not enough time. You can contact him at: aalghamdi@hey.com.

Slow Horses season 6 has set another record on Rotten Tomatoes.

As it comes back from the end of Slow Horses season 5, the spy dramedy is proving to be an absolute rarity in the streaming era. It only recently debuted its sixth season, but it's confirmed to return for at least two additional installments. The show's yearly cadence, made possible by filming seasons back-to-back and having several phases of production at once, has turned it into one of Apple TV's biggest hits as well as one of its most acclaimed. It has received 23 total Emmy nominations, winning three for its writing and directing.

That trend may well grow with Slow Horses season 6, which has debuted to a record audience score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. That marks the highest audience score that the dramedy has reached since its 2022 premiere. It's only Slow Horses season 2 that comes close with 90%, and the rest of the seasons hover in the high 80% range.

The notably favorable reception among audiences follows a similarly warm reception amongst professional critics. Slow Horses season 6 debuted with a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which it still holds, even with a total of 30 reviews and counting. It also debuted as the highest-scoring season in terms of the Average of Rated Reviews at 8.90 out of 10. That score has since come down, however, currently sitting at 8.45 out of 10.

Slow Horses Rotten Tomatoes Scores	Critics	Audience
Season 1	95%	88%
Season 2	100%	90%
Season 3	98%	89%
Season 4	100%	89%
Season 5	96%	82%
Season 6	100%	91%

The audience score for the Apple TV Original may also experience a dip when more ratings are added and as new episodes are released. So far, only one episode of Slow Horses season 6 has dropped. The latest adaptation of Mick Herron's Slough House novels adapts two books in the series, Joe Country and Slough House, rather than just one. The story is partly designed to bring back every unlucky individual who has ever worked under Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb.

That includes the return of Olivia Cooke as Sid Baker. Although the House of the Dragon star hasn't been on the show since season 1, Sid was presented as a protagonist and positioned as a potential love interest for Jack Lowden's River Cartwright. Her reemergence, all this time later, is something of a shock since she was assumed to be dead or otherwise fully retired.

Along with Oldman, Cooke, and Lowden, the latter of whom is a frequently rumored James Bond candidate, the Slow Horses cast includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Rosalind Eleazar, Joanna Scanlan, Samuel West, Ruth Bradley, Tom Brooke, Jonathan Pryce, Hugo Weaving, and Lenny Rush.

Although the on-screen ensemble is largely consistent, there has been a change behind the scenes. Head writer and executive producer Will Smith is taking a step back from the series to focus on other projects, with co-executive producer Gaby Chiappe being promoted to the head writer role. It hasn't dampened the results, as Ben Gibbons refers to the latest episodes as an excellent return to form in his ScreenRant review of Slow Horses season 6. It seems like audiences are very much in agreement.

Slow Horses season 6 streams Wednesdays on Apple TV and will air one episode a week until the finale on October 21.