‘Slow Horses’ Renewed for Season 8 at Apple TV

Spies tend to have a short life expectancy, but the Slow Horses look set to outlast the odds. While there are no promises that the whole team will make it, Apple has announced a season eight renewal for its quirky espionage drama, which took home one Emmy — Saul Metzstein’s best directing for a drama series — from nine nominations Monday night.

Slow Horses features Gary Oldman as the irascible Jackson Lamb, head of Slough House (where MI5 sticks its agents when they’ve proved not fit for purpose). His co-star Jack Lowden recently made headlines when Oldman suggested he’s a on the shortlist for the next James Bond, though The Hollywood Reporter understands a casting decision for Ian Fleming’s spy has not yet been made.

The six-episode eighth season is adapted from Clown Town, the ninth novel in Mick Herron’s Slough House book series. It’ll see Lamb and Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) face off in their most explosive confrontation yet. When a botched attempt to blackmail the Park puts Taverner on the offensive, it is up to Lamb to unravel one of MI5’s darkest secrets and put an end to it once and for all.

Current castmembers also include Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish, Christopher Cho as tech expert Roddy, Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa, Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley, Tom Brooke as JK Coe and Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright. Season six also sees the return of Hugo Weaving as Frank Harkness, River’s birth father, and Olivia Cooke as Sid, an agent who was believed dead.

Adam Randall, who won an Emmy for directing in season four and returned to helm season six, will take the reins again for season eight. “We don’t kill anyone Mick hasn’t killed,” Randall teased of the upcoming season in an interview with THR. “It’s really exciting. With Clown Town, I knew I was going to do it, and I was reading the book [thinking], ‘Who survives Clown Town?’”

Jay Hunt, creative director, international at Apple TV added Monday: “Slow Horses continues to charm audiences all around the world and I’m delighted that Jackson Lamb and his gang of lovable misfits will be back for an eighth season. Their acerbic take on the high-octane world of espionage is completely unique.”

Asked if the show could continue if it were to outpace Herron’s novels, executive producer Douglas Urbanski previously told THR, “Most TV shows don’t have books, so we can figure this out. … And there’s another thing: Mick Herron hasn’t stopped writing. I can’t speak for Mick, but you never know, more books might be coming.”

Season six of Slow Horses premieres Sept. 16 on Apple TV, with one episode set to drop each Wednesday through Oct. 21. This season adapts both the fifth and sixth novels, Joe Country and Slough House. The previously announced season seven will follow the events of Bad Actors; its release date has not been announced.

See-Saw Films produces Slow Horses for Apple TV, with Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Douglas Urbanski, Randall, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gail Mutrux, Billy Bowring, Helen Gregory, Herron and Oldman serving as executive producers. Season eight is adapted for television and executive produced by Ben Vanstone.