One of the best thriller shows on TV is back with a new season

Reviewers are saying the series is unusual as it is a long-running show 'that hasn't had a drop-off in quality'.

Based on novels by British writer Mick Herron, the darkly comic spy thriller series revolves around Slough House, an MI5 dumping ground department for agents who made career-ending mistakes or made an enemy of management.

Run by the miserable, slovenly but intelligent veteran agent Jackson Lamb (Oscar-winner Gary Oldman), the department also features River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), a younger, once up-and-coming agent.

In each season of the show, Cartwright, Lamb and the rest of the reject agents (who are referred to as 'Slow Horses') become entangled in a new mystery.

Adapted from Herron's book London Rules, the plot synopsis for the new batch of episodes reads:

"In season five of Slow Horses, everyone is suspicious when resident tech nerd Roddy Ho (scene-stealer Christopher Chung) has a glamorous new girlfriend, but when a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city, it falls to the Slow Horses to work out how everything is connected.

"After all, Lamb knows that in the world of espionage, the London Rules — cover your back — always apply."

Slow Horses S5's ensemble cast also includes Aimee-Ffion Edwards, James Callis, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rosalind Eleazar, Ruth Bradley, Saskia Reeves and Tom Brooke.

The new season also features a new cast member in Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso).

Over its first four seasons, Slow Horses has been hugely acclaimed, thanks to its clever premise, its darkly comedic elements, its tense action set-pieces, its rich characters and its brilliant performances.

The fifth seems to continue this trend, currently holding a near-perfect 97% Rotten Tomatoes score.

You can check out a sample of some of the glowing reviews for Slow Horses S5 below:

The Age (Australia): "It’s this mix of high-octane action, humour – sometimes juvenile, sometimes sophisticated, always dark – and human frailty that makes Slow Horses such a compelling watch."

Daily Telegraph (UK): "Slow Horses is unusual: a long-running show that hasn’t had a drop-off in quality. There is a supreme sense of confidence about the way it is put together."

Financial Times: "[This season] moves in, it moves out, and it gets the job done, with a precision that Jackson Lamb himself would surely admire."

Metro.co.uk: "I can’t think of a thing I didn’t like about it. The cast is brilliant, the story’s engaging, and the dialogue sharper than ever."

How to watch Slow Horses season five:

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The first episode of Slow Horses season five is streaming on Apple TV+ now, with the other five episodes dropping weekly every Wednesday.