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Who plays the main Slow Horses characters?
Apple’s current series listing confirms these actor-and-character pairings. It is a series-level roster, not a complete record of who appears in each season.
| Actor | Character | Role in the series |
|---|---|---|
| Gary Oldman | Jackson Lamb | Leader of the Slough House team |
| Jack Lowden | River Cartwright | Slough House agent |
| Kristin Scott Thomas | Diana Taverner | Senior MI5 official |
| Saskia Reeves | Catherine Standish | Slough House staff member |
| Rosalind Eleazar | Louisa Guy | Slough House agent |
| Christopher Chung | Roddy Ho | Slough House agent |
| Aimee-Ffion Edwards | Shirley Dander | Slough House agent |
| Kadiff Kirwan | Marcus Longridge | Slough House agent |
The team’s misfit status is built into the premise: Slough House is where British intelligence agents end up after career-ending mistakes. Jackson Lamb heads this dysfunctional group, while Diana Taverner represents the MI5 hierarchy beyond it.
Season five cast and characters
Apple’s season-five announcement names Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Ruth Bradley, James Callis, Tom Brooke and Jonathan Pryce in the ensemble. Nick Mohammed is identified as a special guest star.
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The following additional role pairings are reported by TheWrap’s season-five cast guide. They are season-specific, not a claim that these performers are regulars throughout the series.
| Actor | Season-five character | Role type |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Brooke | J.K. Coe | Slough House agent |
| James Callis | Claude Whelan | Character in the season-five ensemble |
| Ruth Bradley | Emma Flyte | Character in the season-five ensemble |
| Nick Mohammed | Zafar Jaffrey | Special guest star |
| Cherrelle Skeete | Devon Welles | Character in the season-five cast guide |
| Hiba Bennani | Tara | Character in the season-five cast guide |
| Christopher Villiers | Dennis Gimball | Character in the season-five cast guide |
| Victoria Hamilton | Dodie Gimball | Character in the season-five cast guide |
Apple’s announcement names Pryce among the season-five ensemble but does not map him to a character there. The Television Academy separately lists Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright, alongside Oldman as Jackson Lamb and Lowden as River Cartwright, in its awards records. Those records corroborate the pairings but are not a full cast list.
Rank #2
- Foreword by Kate DiCamillo
What happens in season five?
Season five adapts London Rules, the next novel in Mick Herron’s Slough House series. Apple’s synopsis centers on Roddy Ho’s glamorous new girlfriend and a string of increasingly bizarre events the team must connect. The season consists of six episodes; its premiere was September 24, 2025, with weekly episodes through October 29, 2025. Those dates have passed.
Herron’s London Rules is optional background reading rather than required preparation for the television story.
Where can you watch Slow Horses?
Slow Horses is listed on Apple TV. Availability can vary by region.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why Jackson Lamb is more than a slacker
Gary Oldman’s performance anchors the series’ contrast between Lamb’s apparent indifference and his attentiveness. In an Associated Press interview, Oldman said, “I love the fact that people think he’s sort of loafing off and yet, really, when his eyes are closed and he’s got his feet up on the desk that the mind is sort of working.”
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- Director Bla Tarr & gnes Hranitzky
- Certificate 15 years and over
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- Languages Hungarian
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