Slow Horses Season 5 debuts to 100% Rotten Tomatoes on premiere day

Slow Horses, Apple TV+'s acclaimed spy thriller, launched its fifth season to a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 100 percent on the day of its premiere, with the first two episodes dropping this week. In Culture & Entertainment coverage, the Season 5 arrival reinforces the series' standing as a stylish, high-stakes espionage drama.

Based on Mick Herron's Slough House novels and adapting London Rules for the screen, Season 5 follows Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb as he leads a team of disgraced MI5 agents through a web of political intrigue, personal jeopardy, and internal power plays. The season arrives on Apple TV+ with the familiar ensemble back in action, including Jack Lowden as River Cartwright and Kristin Scott Thomas as steely MI5 chief Diana Taverner. Hugo Weaving returns to reprise his menacing Frank Harkness role after debuting in season four, and the new season introduces Nick Mohammed as Zahar Jaffrey, the mayor of London.

Ahead of the release, Mohammed promised fans an 'explosive' ride. He told RadioTimes that Season 5 will deliver twists and end with a striking, action-heavy sequence, signaling a punchy finale even as the series tightens its back-to-basics approach.

Early reviews have poured in with praise for the show's continued ascent. Collider asserted that even in its most pared-back form, Slow Horses remains unmissable, suggesting that the fifth season proves the series can thrive on leaner storytelling while preserving its core strengths. CBR lauded the season for pushing boundaries, noting that it 'continues to test the limits of audience expectations, and comes one step closer to becoming truly iconic.' The Daily Telegraph highlighted the show's consistency, calling Slow Horses 'unusual: a long-running show that hasn't had a drop-off in quality' and praising the ' supreme sense of confidence about the way it is put together.' Metro joined the chorus of enthusiasm, writing that it could not think of a flaw: 'I can't think of a thing I didn't like about it. The cast is brilliant, the story's engaging, and the dialogue sharper than ever.'

The Daily Mail’s Roland White also weighed in, giving the new series four stars and noting that the opening frames unfold rapidly: a young man with blank eyes shoots in a suburban shopping centre, immediately situating the season in the show's signature blend of dark humor and hard-edged espionage. White described Slow Horses as darker intrigue rather than broad comedy, remarking that the show’s humor remains rooted in the absurdities of intelligence work and office life, with the standard pace of the Slough House crew intact.

Since its 2022 debut, Slow Horses has carved out a reputation as one of television’s most stylish thrillers, blending razor-sharp dialogue with high-stakes espionage and a darkly comic edge. The fifth season continues to leverage that DNA, aided by Oldman’s improvisational shambles as Lamb and the return of familiar players alongside a new addition in Mohammed.

Season five is available to stream on Apple TV+ now.