Apple TV’s Spy Thriller Masterpiece Spoils Three Major Returns in New Season Trailer
Something that’s been very easy to notice with Apple TV as a streamer is that they’ve managed to carve out a specific niche in a crowded space. While other streaming services develop reputations for cancelling shows quickly, or just focusing on their three most popular ones, Apple TV has quietly been building a name for itself as the premier sci-fi streamer thanks to shows like Severance and Pluribus. That said, it’s not the only genre they dabble in to great effect. This past year saw the debut of Widow’s Bay, which proved Apple TV can occupy the horror space as well. There’s another genre they’ve perfected too, though: the spy thriller.
One of the most enjoyable shows on Apple TV since its debut is Slow Horses, the Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden-starring series based on the book series by Mick Herron. Telling the story of the rejects at MI5 and the mishaps they routinely find themselves in, it might very quietly be Apple TV’s best ever. Ahead of the show’s return this fall, Apple TV has debuted the new trailer for Slow Horses Season 6, which not only offers a hint of what the plot will be for the new batch of episodes but also spoils three major character returns that fans have been waiting on for years.
Slow Horses Season 6 Trailer Reveals Major Character Returns
The start of the Slow Horses Season 6 trailer begins by clearly setting up what the big mystery for the new episodes will actually be about, and it’s one that fans could have seen coming after five seasons: someone is targeting and eliminating former Slough House employees.
As a result, some familiar faces that previously departed the series will make their return, as confirmed by the footage seen in the trailer. Among them, Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar), who departed the series in the last season and has left the spy life for good, only to get roped back in. The big one comes at the end of the trailer, though, with confirmation that Olivia Cooke will return as Sidonie “Sid” Baker, last seen in Season 1, stuck in a coma.
Fans of Herron’s books are not surprised at all to see that Sid is back in the story, but the return of Cooke to the role will make a major story point for Jack Lowden’s River Cartwright for a couple of reasons. The first is that the guilt of what happened to her in Season 1 is something that has lingered over his head for some time, but the second is that she was placed in Slough House specifically to spy on River. As a result, both of those will clearly come to a head.
We didn’t forget about the third return, though, with the surprise reveal in the trailer that Hugo Weaving’s Frank Harkness will also be back. Previously the central antagonist of Season 4, where River’s backstory and their familial relationship were revealed, Weaving’s character only briefly appears, but will clearly be a foil to River in some way, while dealing with whoever is targeting the Slow Horses themselves.
Slow Horses will premiere the first episode of Season 5 on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 with the first episode, followed by one episode weekly until October 21, 2026.
