“Slow Horses” Season 6 could feel very different from its predecessors.
That’s because, for the first time in the show’s history, it will be without its head writer. That man is Will Smith, who departed after Season 5.
“I don’t want to leave,” Smith tells /Film, “but it was also like, I couldn’t get the scripts ready, they couldn’t meet the schedule, so it was with great sadness on both sides.”
Smith was a key writer on Apple TV’s award-winning spy drama across all five seasons, which first aired April 1st, 2022. Now, he’s making “a practical decision” to move on after citing “the looming need for scripts for series 6.”
Smith continues, “I was doing so much work on series 5 that there was no way I was going to be able to do that.”
In Smith’s defense, “Slow Horses” has an intensive shooting schedule. Apple TV films two seasons back-to-back in order to release one season per year. That means creatives must shoot and edit one season while working on the next.
While the reason for Smith’s reluctant exit boils down to a workload clash, the writer says he’s leaving at a good time.
“In terms of my contribution, I feel it does conclude certain arcs that were started in series one. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but it feels like a nice place to exit. The show is in a good position, I hope, creatively.”
‘Slow Horses’ Season 5 Ending
In the finale of “Slow Horses” Season 5, Taverner takes up a position at First Desk after Jackson Lamb forces Claude Wheelen’s resignation. Meanwhile, River Cartwright saves Taverner from a terrorist plot.
Lastly, it’s confirmed via a bombshell twist that Lamb was previously captured and tortured while on a spy mission, largely explaining his prickly demeanor.
Will There Be a Season 7 of ‘Slow Horses’?
Yes, there will be a Season 7 of “Slow Horses.” In fact, Apple TV’s flagship drama doesn’t stop there, with many more seasons expected.
According to former head writer Will Smith, “The show is going to go on to even bigger and better things, and Mick [Herron] has just released the ninth book, and I’m sure there’ll be a 10th, 11th, 12th.”
