Gary Oldman’s Slow Horses Is Now An All-Time Streaming Hit Shooting Past Huge Milestone

Apple TV’s Slow Horses is now an all-time streaming success, ironically proving itself to be a worthy adversary to its genre rival, James Bond. Premiering in 2022, Slow Horses follows a team of washed-up MI5 agents banished to dull desk jobs for incompetence, who end up having to protect the U.K. against a real threat. The series stars Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas, among others.

Based on Mick Herron’s books, Slow Horses has won two Primetime Emmys since its debut (Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series going to Adam Randall in 2025; Outstanding Writing going to Will Smith in 2024), but has been nominated a total of 14 times, including two nods for Oldman as an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. It also currently holds an amazing 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now, ahead of the season 5 finale dropping tomorrow (October 29), Slow Horses has passed a massive milestone, having spent 503 days in Apple TV’s domestic Top 10 charts for TV (not consecutively), according to FlixPatrol. Due to excitement about this installment’s conclusion, the show is likely to significantly add to that total, though it may slow down in a few weeks.

Slow Horses had a slow start in terms of recognition, but after ending its streak of being snubbed by the Emmys, it has only reached new heights. Furthermore, Slow Horses is already renewed for seasons 6 and 7 (with season 6 having already been completed), proving that Apple TV recognizes the continued demand for the “Slow Horses” to have more adventures.

Oldman, as the series’ lead, appears to be focused primarily on Slow Horses for the foreseeable future. Following his Best Lead Actor Oscar win for 2017’s Darkest Hour, Oldman appeared in other movies as Slow Horses was getting started, such as Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and Oppenheimer. However, his upcoming projects are now only the Apple TV show and video games.

Depending on how long Slow Horses continues, it may find itself directly competing with new James Bond content, as Amazon MGM and Denis Villeneuve continue to develop Bond 26. Amazon taking creative control of the James Bond franchise means that the studio could also end up producing a TV show, a streaming spy thriller to match Slow Horses.

However, while Amazon’s Bond content faces the challenge of being fresh, Slow Horses is more original in its very premise, as the “anti-James Bond” narrative. As dark comedy continues to rise in pop culture, Slow Horses remains a competitive entry. It proves that a story about even the supposedly boring side of a genre can be a hit, making the case for more subversive takes.