Mere days after the third season finale arrived on Apple TV+, spy thriller Slow Horses has been officially renewed for a fifth season, once again starring Gary Oldman.

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The new season will be based on Mick Herron's fifth novel, London Rules, and will follow on from the fourth season, which is expected to arrive later this year, having been filmed back to back with season 3.

The official synopsis for the fifth season reads as follows: "In season 5 of Slow Horses, everyone is suspicious when resident tech nerd Roddy Ho has a glamorous new girlfriend, but when a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city, it falls to the Slow Horses to work out how everything is connected.

"After all, Jackson Lamb knows that in the world of espionage, 'London Rules' should always apply."

Jack Lowden in Slow Horses season 3 wearing a khaki jacket and grey hoodie
Jack Lowden in Slow Horses season 3. Apple TV+

As well as Oldman, stars expected to reprise their roles for the fifth season (depending on how their characters fare in the fourth) include Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Samuel West, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan and Jonathan Pryce.

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The director for season 5 has yet to be announced, with the show having so far seen a different director take the reins for each new season.

This is the first run of the show to be commissioned on its own, with both the first and second, and the third and fourth, having been commissioned at once, so they could be filmed back to back.

As fans await the arrival of the fourth season, writer Will Smith previously explained what they can expect when speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com, revealing that "River takes a battering" in the new entry.

"I think that it continues the rupture that exists between River and his grandfather at the end of this season," Smith explained, "where River finally starts to question his grandfather, he goes against his judgement, he starts to realise he's not the man he thought he was.

"And also, he isn't the man that he was in that he’s started to decline and he's starting to fall prey to dementia. It's following that, through, and seeing River having to deal with real issues, and face up to some things from his past and some things in his present, that are really heavy for River to deal with."

Slow Horses seasons 1-3 are available to watch now on Apple TV+ – sign up to Apple TV+ now.

Visit our Drama hub for more news, interviews and features, or find something to watch now with our TV Guide or Streaming Guide.

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