Slow Horses season 5 is confirmed for later this year, but there are plenty of similar shows to hold viewers over while they wait. Based on the Slough House series of books by Mick Herron, Slow Horses focuses on the operatives at an MI5 office that serves as the dumping ground for the agency’s screw-ups and rejects, led by the acerbic and slobbish Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). However, as they continue to find themselves mixed up in big cases, the “Slow Horses” prove they shouldn’t be underestimated.
As Slow Horses enters its fifth season, the show is only growing in popularity and acclaim. It is a thrilling dive into the spy genre with plenty to offer fans of intrigue and supsense. It also has a surprising amount of humor, considering its high-stakes storylines, with Lamb providing some hilarious insults. However, at the center of the show is the story of underdogs proving themselves to the world. It is a unique mix of elements, but there are some great shows that capture what Slow Horses fans are looking for.
8
Justified (2010-2015)
6 Seasons, 78 Episodes
Justified
8/10
- Release Date
-
2010 – 2015-00-00
- Showrunner
-
Timothy Olyphant
Justified takes a look at the crime world of rural Kentucky, and while that might sound like a very different setting than the British spy realm of Slow Horses, the shows feature very similar tones. Timothy Olyphant stars in Justified as Raylan Givens, a U.S. Marshal who acts like a cowboy who stepped out of the Old West and into the 21st century. Upon returning to his hometown in Kentucky, he contends with the local criminals, including an old friend turned bank robber, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins).
Justified could be very funny at times, with Raylan being similar to Jackson Lamb in his ability to shut down his opponents with a witty one-liner.
Slow Horses‘ producer Graham Yost was the creator of Justified, and his approach to thrillers with humor is seen all over both shows. Justified could be very funny at times, with Raylan being similar to Jackson Lamb in his ability to shut down his opponents with a witty one-liner. However, it was also a series that never let the laughs interfere with the stakes at hand.
7
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024-)
1 Season, 8 Episodes
With spy movies and shows being around for decades, it is amazing to see something like Slow Horses come along that feels like it is doing something fresh with the well-worn material. And Mr. & Mrs. Smith feels the same. Based on the Mr. & Mrs. Smith action movie starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the series is a much different story. It stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as two operatives in a covert program where they pose as a married couple to complete a series of missions. As the fake relationship turns into a real one, things get complicated.
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Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a more elevated spy story, but it matches Slow Horses in its ability to blend humor and action without losing elements of either. However, one of the most clever aspects of the show is how it uses the spy format to showcase the different stages of a romantic relationship, from the honeymoon phase to conversations about children to the rockier aspects.
6
The Night Agent (2023-)
2 Seasons, 20 Episodes
The Night Agent
7/10
- Release Date
-
March 23, 2023
- Network
-
Netflix
- Showrunner
-
Shawn Ryan
-
-
Hiro Kanagawa
FBI Director Willett
The Slow Horses make for great heroes because they are overlooked by the world and underestimated by their enemies. This is also the case with the hero, Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), in the thriller series The Night Agent. Sutherland is a low-level agent who is assigned to the seemingly menial task of watching over the White House’s emergency phone line. Despite the fact that it is never supposed to ring, when Sutherland gets a call, it throws him into a large conspiracy.
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The Slow Horses are the disregarded agents who are given the tasks no one wants, only for them to continually find themselves linked to something much bigger. Sutherland very much fits this kind of underdog hero with a noble determination reminiscent of Slow Horses‘ River Cartwright (Jack Lowden). However, Sutherland being a lone hero for much of the series robs it of some of the lightness in Slow Horses.
5
Gangs Of London (2020-)
3 Seasons, 25 Episodes
Gangs of London
- Release Date
-
April 23, 2020
- Network
-
Sky Atlantic
- Directors
-
Corin Hardy, Xavier Gens, Marcela Said
While the humor of Slow Horses is one of the best aspects of the show, there are plenty of series that capture a similar vibe without being funny at all. Gangs of London is a gripping British crime series that is surprisingly based on a video game. However, that should not fool viewers, as it is a brutal and dark look at a crime family who find themselves fighting to retain power in their city after the death of their patriarch. Meanwhile, undercover agent Elliot Finch (Sope Dirisu) is looking to infiltrate the organization.
For fans of the shady world of secrets and lies in Slow Horses, the British underworld offers just as much of it as the spy world does. As a bonus, Dirisu also had a standout role in season 3 of Slow Horses as Sean Donovan. However, in terms of the action, Gangs of London takes it to a completely different level. The Raid‘s Gareth Evans being one of the creators should give some indication of how brutal the fight scenes are.
4
Killing Eve (2018-2022)
4 Seasons, 32 Episodes
Killing Eve
8/10
- Release Date
-
2018 – 2022-00-00
- Showrunner
-
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Killing Eve takes a look at a more heightened side of the modern spy world with some colorful characters. The series stars Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri, an MI5 analyst who is taken out of her boring desk job and put on the hunt for a cunning and dangerous assassin known as Villanelle (Jodie Comer). However, as Eve gets the thrill of the chase in her new role, Villanelle begins to become obsessed with this woman who is hunting her down.
Like Slow Horses, Killing Eve uses the tropes of the spy genre to subvert them in clever ways. A lot of the time, this results in some hilarious dark humor that Slow Horses fans will appreciate. Comer is especially funny as the psychotic assassin. The first two seasons of the show, in which Phoebe Waller-Bridge serves as the showrunner, are especially electrifying and sharp.
3
The Diplomat (2023-)
2 Seasons, 14 Episodes
The Diplomat
7/10
- Release Date
-
2023 – 2023-00-00
- Showrunner
-
Debora Cahn
- Directors
-
Liza Johnson, Simon Cellan Jones
-
Keri Russell
Ambassador Kate Wyler
-
The Diplomat is a series that takes Slow Horses‘ witty yet thriller underdog approach to the spy genre and transplants it into a political thriller story. Keri Russell stars in the show as Kate Wyler, a rather unassuming diplomat who is unexpectedly appointed as the new U.S. Ambassador to England during a period of global unrest and conflict. Attempting to get a handle on the overwhelming job, she finds that she is at the center of a large conspiracy.
The show tackles some big modern political scenarios, but it also has a lot of that unexpected and clever charm that makes it fun.
One of the charming things about Kate as a hero is that she is completely ill-suited and underqualified for the job she has been thrust into. Realizing that, she nevertheless has to take on the daunting responsibilities and learn on her feet. The show tackles some big modern political scenarios, but it also has a lot of that unexpected and clever charm that makes it fun.
2
Black Doves (2024)
1 Season, 6 Episodes
While Keira Knightley is iconic in a number of period dramas, she stepped into the modern world for the intense and entertaining action series Black Doves. Knightley stars in the series as Helen, an operative living a double life, which is threatened to be exposed when her boyfriend is killed, with her seemingly as the intended target. Needing answers before more loved ones are put at risk, she partners with fellow agent Sam (Ben Whishaw) to get to the bottom of the plot.
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Black Doves takes place more in the shadows of the spy world than Slow Horses and can be quite graphic in its violence. Yet it is another terrific series that delivers laughs as well as thrills, with assassins Eleanor and Williams providing Black Doves‘ funniest moments. It is also a lot of fun to see Knightley back in the action genre, proving it is still a great fit for her.
1
Patriot (2015-2018)
2 Seasons, 18 Episodes
Patriot
- Release Date
-
2015 – 2018-00-00
- Network
-
Prime Video
- Directors
-
Ted Griffin
-
-
Terry O’Quinn
Lawrence Lacroix
-
Julian Richings
Peter Icabod
-
Patriot is another spy series with a fair bit of dark humor and unconventional spies. The show stars Michael Dorman as John Tavner, a troubled CIA operative who is tasked with stopping a nuclear development plan in Iran. In order to do so, he must go undercover as a worker at an industrial plant in Milwaukee, where he finds himself needing to take some drastic steps to ensure his cover is not blown and that his mission is complete.
The agents in Slow Horses are seen as losers and prove themselves to be more capable than expected. Patriot gets just as many laughs in depicting a spy who is given far too much leeway and continues to make a mess of things. The show is also quite dark in its humor, as John is not always an easy hero to like, doing some terrible things to people who don’t necessarily deserve it.
