Apple is keeping the slow horses running.

The company has officially renewed its Emmy- and BAFTA Award-winning spy drama Slow Horses for an eighth season, bringing Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb and the dysfunctional MI5 agents of Slough House back for another round of espionage, political maneuvering and very British insults.

The upcoming season will consist of six episodes and is based on Clown Town, the ninth novel in Mick Herron’s acclaimed Slough House book series. Oldman will once again lead the cast as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but perpetually irritated intelligence officer who oversees MI5 agents who have been banished to the organization’s unofficial dumping ground.

The timing is particularly notable for fans of the series. Apple says the complete first five seasons are currently available to stream, while Season 6 is scheduled to premiere on September 16, 2026. Season 7 was already announced last year, meaning Apple has now committed to the series through at least an eighth season.

Season 8 is also shaping up to be another major confrontation for Lamb. The story will put him on a collision course with Diana Taverner, with a botched attempt to blackmail the Park setting off events that force Taverner onto the offensive.

Lamb, meanwhile, will have to dig into one of MI5’s darkest secrets and attempt to put an end to the threat once and for all.

That setup fits Slow Horses particularly well. Unlike the polished super-spies usually found in television thrillers, the series centers on intelligence agents whose careers have gone badly enough that they have been sent to Slough House. Under Lamb’s leadership, the group routinely finds itself caught up in situations far more serious than its members were ever supposed to handle.

The show’s mix of dark comedy and traditional espionage has become one of its defining strengths. Its agents can be messy, abrasive and spectacularly dysfunctional, but the stakes surrounding them are often deadly serious. That contrast has helped Slow Horses stand apart from the more conventional spy dramas competing for viewers.

The series has also become one of Apple’s most decorated television properties. The first five seasons have all achieved Certified Fresh status on Rotten Tomatoes, with two seasons receiving a perfect 100% critics’ score. The fourth season was also named Rotten Tomatoes’ top series of 2024.

Its awards record is just as impressive. Slow Horses has won three Emmy Awards, including two for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and one for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. It has also collected five BAFTA Television Awards, including wins for writing and drama, along with consecutive awards for editing and sound.

For Season 8, Ben Vanstone will adapt Clown Town for television and serve as an executive producer. Adam Randall is also returning to direct. The season will again be produced for Apple TV by See-Saw Films, with executive producers including Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Douglas Urbanski, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gail Mutrux, Billy Bowring, Helen Gregory, Mick Herron and Oldman.

Apple has not announced a premiere date for Season 8 yet.

For now, the immediate future of Slow Horses is already packed. Season 6 arrives on September 16, with Season 7 still ahead and Season 8 now officially secured. For a show built around MI5 agents who were supposedly sent away from the action, Slough House is proving remarkably difficult to shut down.

And honestly, that might be the best possible news for fans of Jackson Lamb.