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Slow Horses Season 4 Review: A More Personal, Still Wickedly Funny Return

A bombing and River Cartwright’s concern for his grandfather make Slow Horses season four more personal, while its dry humor and ensemble keep the spy drama’s familiar spark.
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Slow Horses season four is a strong return: its six episodes turn a bombing and River Cartwright’s worry about his grandfather into a more personal espionage story, without losing the show’s dry humor or its ensemble appeal. It adapts Mick Herron’s fourth Slough House novel, Spook Street, and is worth watching if you enjoy spy drama with flawed characters and sharp comedy.

Is Slow Horses season 4 worth watching?

Yes—especially if the appeal of Slow Horses is the contrast between serious intelligence work and the messy, often funny people tasked with doing it. Season four raises the personal stakes: a bombing rattles Slough House, while River’s concern for his grandfather, David Cartwright, gives the espionage plot a family dimension.

That shift makes this season feel like more than another assignment for Jackson Lamb’s team. The series’ established dark humor remains part of the mix, but the story’s emotional center draws closer to River and David. Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ consensus likewise highlights the more personal stakes and calls the season “superb.” That is an aggregate critical judgment, not a guarantee that every viewer will respond the same way.

What is season four about?

Apple’s official premise begins with a bombing that exposes personal secrets and unsettles Slough House, the place where British intelligence sends agents whose careers have been derailed. River’s worry about his grandfather, former senior intelligence officer David Cartwright, adds a personal thread to the operation. The season’s tension comes from how those private concerns meet the dangerous work around them.

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The result stays within the show’s espionage-and-comedy identity while putting more emphasis on what the characters stand to lose. Gary Oldman returns as Jackson Lamb, the irascible head of Slough House, and Jack Lowden plays River Cartwright. Jonathan Pryce’s David is central to the season’s family strand.

Performances and tone

Oldman anchors the series as Lamb, whose abrasive manner and sharp observations keep the humor alive even as the plot turns serious. Lowden gives River’s concern for David a direct emotional focus, while Pryce brings weight to the grandfather at the center of that concern. The returning ensemble includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards and Kadiff Kirwan.

Season four also adds Hugo Weaving, Joanna Scanlan, Ruth Bradley, Tom Brooke and James Callis. The expanded cast suits a story that moves between the intelligence service’s wider machinery and Slough House’s unconventional team. Rather than abandoning the show’s comic edge for a grim thriller, the season uses that edge as a counterpoint to its more intimate stakes.

How many episodes are there, and when did they air?

Season four has six episodes. Apple announced a global premiere for September 4, 2024, followed by weekly Wednesday releases through October 9, 2024. These are the original release dates, not a claim about the present catalog or schedule.

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The season is an adaptation of Spook Street, the fourth novel in Mick Herron’s Slough House series. Readers can start with Mick Herron’s Spook Street, the novel behind season four. The book is a separate work, not a physical release of the television season.

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Where can you watch season four now?

Apple’s September 2026 series announcement says the first five seasons are streaming on Apple TV. Catalog access can vary by territory, so check the service in your country for current availability. The announcement also scheduled season six to premiere on September 16, 2026; a scheduled date alone does not establish whether it is now available. For current season-four access, start at Apple TV’s Slow Horses listing.

What do the reviews say?

On October 8, 2026, Rotten Tomatoes displayed a 100% Tomatometer from 45 critic reviews and an 89% Popcornmeter from more than 1,000 audience ratings for season four. These are changing snapshot figures, not fixed scores. Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus praises the season’s more personal stakes and says the series shows no signs of fatigue. Individual responses on the page include a 5/5 rating from James Jackson of The Times (UK) and praise from Mike Hale of The New York Times, who called the series one of the most entertaining and well-put-together shows around.

Awards context needs the same distinction between a season and the full series. Apple’s June 2024 season-four announcement noted two BAFTA Television Awards the show had won by then—Best Editing: Fiction and Best Sound: Fiction. Its August 2024 trailer announcement referred to nine Emmy nominations for season three, not season four. A September 2026 Apple announcement reported three Emmy wins and five BAFTA Television wins for the series overall; those totals are not season-four-specific.

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Who is season four best for?

  • Watch it if you want a character-driven spy story where danger and dry comedy share the same space.
  • Start with earlier seasons if you want the character relationships and Slough House dynamics to have their full context.
  • Try the source novel if you want to explore the story in Mick Herron’s book series; season four adapts the fourth novel, Spook Street.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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