Will Smith Exits Gary Oldman's 98% Fresh Apple TV+ Spy Thriller in Major Creative Shakeup

Slow Horses series creator Will Smith leaves the show behind in a shocking production shakeup.

Per Deadline, creator, writer, executive producer, and showrunner Will Smith has confirmed that he will be leaving Slow Horses behind following its fifth season. The hit spy thriller, which has already been renewed up through its seventh season, will be handed over to Gaby Chiappe for Season 6, and to Ben Vanstone for Season 7. “Series 5, it doesn’t end things by any means, but it concludes certain story arcs that started in Season 1,” Smith noted. “So it felt like a good moment to hand over the show.”

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Smith went on to discuss the series and his reasons for leaving it in other hands going forward, explaining that “I think it’s a big show and it’s an intense process. And I suppose I didn’t want to lose the sense of fun of it. There’s two things. One, there’s the risk that you’ll start to run dry or repeat, which you have to watch… And then it’s likely that the schedule of it just becomes something that can be slightly daunting after a while. It feels like I might not be giving you my best work if I continue at this pace… I do want to emphasize, it’s not in any way that I thought I’m now too good for Slow Horses. It’s much more that I want to keep being good enough for Slow Horses.”

Based on author Mick Herron’s Slough House novel series that began in 2010 with the book of the same name, Slow Horses premiered on Apple TV+ back in 2022 and quickly found a footing with fans and critics alike. The series follows Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb, a seemingly slovenly and disorganized man who uses his overtly rude demeanor as a cover for his coldly calculating nature. Lamb oversees the operations of the agents within Slough House, effectively administrative purgatory for MI5 agents whose careers aren’t quite tarnished enough to be disowned by the Crown entirely.

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Why Slow Horses Is So Worth Watching on Apple TV+

Since its debut, Slow Horses has been nominated for dozens of major industry awards, with five separate Primetime Emmy and Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards nominations currently pending. While individual stars such as Oldman have received honors as high as the Rose d’Or for his work on Slow Horses, the show’s writers, other actors, and even the series itself have also taken home prizes ranging from Scripters to BAFTA awards. As of the time of writing, Slow Horses holds a near-perfect 98% “Fresh” rating via review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, as averaged across 175 critical reviews of the series. The user-generated “Popcornmeter” score for Slow Horses is similarly positive, currently sitting at an 88% approval rating.

Slow Horses is currently available for streaming on Apple TV+.

Source: Deadline