Slow Horses favourite teases "different flavour" to season 6 after showrunner change

Slow Horses star Christopher Chung has teased a “different flavour” to the upcoming sixth season, following a major behind-the-scenes change – but fans certainly shouldn’t be worried.

Based on the Slough House novels by Mick Herron, the Apple TV thriller chronicles the high-stakes assignments of banished intelligence agents, led by the infamously unkempt Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman).

Chung has been a part of the show since the beginning, with the character of computer hacker Roddy Ho surviving to see the upcoming sixth season, which saw a change of guard as creator Will Smith stepped down as showrunner.

The screenwriter won an Emmy for his work on the show, among a number of other honours, but announced last summer that the time had come to move on to other projects (via Deadline).

Speaking to Radio Times at an Apple TV event celebrating the BAFTA TV Awards 2026, Chung discussed the impact of Smith’s departure after such a long and successful tenure.

“Will’s been such a strong voice – he has been the voice of the show for the last five seasons,” he began.

“What has been really great about having Will write our characters for us… is that he wrote in our voices, so it really gave us a lot of agency in what we decided to do in season 6; having that blueprint and that framework served us really strongly.”

Prior to his illustrious screenwriting turn, Smith had been a stand-up comedian, with his natural wit surely helping to translate the darkly comic elements of the story.

Can we expect that element to be retained by incoming boss Gaby Chiappe (of ITV/BritBox’s The Beast Must Die)?

“Yeah, I think so,” answered Chung. “Maybe with a slightly different flavour, but I think every season has a slightly different flavour, so I don’t think the fans will be disappointed.”

Chung kept quiet when pressed for details on the already-confirmed seventh season (and what could lie beyond), but for his part, voiced his adoration for the show – implying a willingness to keep going as long as Roddy does.

“I love Slow Horses,” he added. “Doing this job, since I started it, has been the making of my career in many ways. I’ve got to work with the best of the best and I don’t really know of another job that I could do that would be able to top that.

“Every job, subsequently, that I’ve had in my career has been one up on the next, so I think the possibility of having a [job] that’s one up on this – whether it be a film or a television series – is quite hard to fathom.”

Slow Horses season 6 does not yet have a confirmed release date, although the last two seasons have landed in September of their respective years, meaning that sometime this autumn is a likely release window for the next chapter.

Slow Horses is available to stream on Apple TV. Season 6 coming soon. Start your seven day free Apple TV trial.

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