Forget House of the Dragon and Bridgerton, this is the TV show you have to watch this year

You hardly have to be a secret agent to know that we’re living through a golden age of television. 

While this year’s global summer box office is down 10% on last year – despite the best efforts of Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine – the small screen has been dazzling viewers with a string of critical and commercial hits.

We’ve had Fallout, Baby Reindeer, Bridgerton, Shogun, House of the Dragon Season 2, The Acolyte (yeah, it was good, don’t listen to YouTubers), and there’s more to come. The Rings of Power Season 2 is just getting started, the Only Murders in the Building gang is back together, and I hear Jude Law’s putting together a crew… a Skeleton Crew. 

Yet with all that fantastic telly either in the rearview mirror or on the horizon, the best show of the year is probably one that’s not on your radar, but you’re going to thank me for recommending it. 

Welcome to Slough House

Apple TV+

Just a stone’s throw from Barbican Station stands a rather unassuming building. To the unobservant, it looks like any other row of shops, but it hides a secret. Above that grubby Chinese restaurant, through the grimy windows, sits an office known as Slough House, the home of the Slow Horses. 

Now, you’ll probably know Slow Horses as that TV show your dad or mum – who definitely got a free Apple TV+ subscription with their new TV – keeps recommending. However, I’d be confident in betting (based on Apple TV’s low subscriber numbers) that you’ve probably not listened to the wisdom of your elders. 

Well, you should have because Slow Horses is easily one of the best TV shows I’ve ever watched, and I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about it. Based on Mick Herron’s book series of the same name, the show follows the titular Slow Horses, a group of down-and-out secret agents who MI5 can’t be bothered to fire.

Apple TV+

Instead, they let them do dull admin work at Slough House, a grim and dank building so far from the action that it might as well be in Slough (one for the London geography nerds).

Adding further insult to injury is that these agents have to contend with their new boss, Jackson Lamb, an over-the-hill Cold War veteran whose favorite things in the world include farting, drinking cheap whisky, and making his employee’s life hell. 

The premise alone is ripe with dramatic potential, as you’ve basically got a load of incompetent but ambitious characters, none of whom trust each other, scheming to escape from career purgatory. As a result, the Slow Horses constantly find themselves out of their depth as they try to prove to The Park (MI5’s head office) that they should be brought back into the fold.

Apple TV+

However, there’s more to the story than a bunch of losers failing to get a promotion. The Slow Horses are useful idiots for The Park, and regularly, they’re brought in to be the fall guys and gals for riskier operations.

To make matters even worse, Lamb might be a wretched mess of a man, but he made plenty of enemies during the Cold War, all wanting revenge. Basically, Slow Horses is what you’d get if Game of Thrones and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy had an awkward one-night stand. 

It combines the slow-boil tension of the most exciting Cold War thrillers with the backstabbing politics and deadly joy (quite literally) of George RR Martin’s best work. But wait, it gets better.

They’re losers, but they’re my losers

The occupants of Slough House might be losers, but they’re a lovable lot (for the most part), and there are a lot of them. In the first season alone, there are nine Slow Horses and plenty of other side characters, all of whom are well-developed and given time to shine.

It’s impressive that the show manages to balance such a big cast of losers, but I promise you’ll be charmed by even the grumpiest of Slough House’s bored employees. 

Even better, these underdogs (under horses?) do occasionally get a win, and when they do, the catharsis you’ll feel can’t be described without me adding an NSFW content warning. All of this, then, makes it all the sadder and more shocking when the show decides to kill off a character.

Oh, I wasn’t joking when I said this was a deadly series. Each and every season, some unfortunate bugger gets a complementary body bag and a toe tag.

I won’t spoil who dies, but this sense that anybody could die gives Slow Horses a real sense of jeopardy, and because the characters are so well-realized, there’s a pathos to it as well. It’s not like characters are being killed for fun or shock value; it always matters to the story.

Apple TV+

Of course, while the cast is well-balanced, we all have our favorites, and Jackson Lamb isn’t just the master of Slough House. He’s the king of my heart. Repugnant and gross, Lamb rules over employment hell like a stinky Lucifer, yet there’s more to this sinister secret service agent than meets the eye. 

Under the sweat-stained and rumpled coat is a deadly agent who might be over the hill, but he’s still further up the mountain than most MI5 agents will ever get. As a result, you get this weird dichotomy where Lamb’s constantly underestimated by enemies and allies who presume he’s a bumbling idiot.

The closest character you can compare him to in that regard is Columbo, who had a similar schtick. Still, it’s always thrilling to watch Lamb whip away the post-drinking binge sweats and engage his razor-sharp mind.

Oldman, as you’d expect, does a tremendous job with the character, making him repulsive yet charming in a smelly kind of way. Also, if you’re wondering why I didn’t mention River, it’s because it’s fun (and easy) to make River suffer.

Get back in that game

Apple TV+

I’ve perhaps rambled for too long about how great a TV show Slow Horses is, and you’ve probably heard all this from some convert to Slough House before. Yet I implore before you dismiss the show, if there’s one lesson to take from Slow Horses, it’s that underestimating people can be deadly… wait that sounds less like a cool sign-off and more like a threat. 

Sorry, it’s not that serious; just watch the show – it’s got a good theme song as well! Damn, I’m off to Dexerto’s version of Slough House for that f**k up, aren’t I? (Editor’s Note: Yes).

Anyway, while Tom heads off to his new posting, why not check out our breakdown of everything you need to know about Slow Horses Season 4? We’ve also got a list of the best Apple TV+ shows if you’re looking for another new series to watch while away in your evenings.