Last updated: September 1, 2026.

Some titles on this list are available to buy or rent on Amazon, and the Mick Herron novels are available there too. Those links are affiliate links — StreamingBeam earns a commission at no cost to you.

You just finished Slow Horses Season 6, and now there's a Jackson Lamb–shaped hole in your week. This is what to watch next — not a generic spy list, but shows that share the specific things Slow Horses does well: institutional dysfunction played for dark humor, competent people undermined by broken systems, and character work that matters more than the plot. Ten series across six platforms, plus where to find Gary Oldman's other work, and what's verifiable about Season 7.

What Actually Makes Slow Horses Work

The spy plots aren't the point. Slow Horses works because it's about a broken institution — MI5's Slough House, where washed-up agents are sent to stall, and where the people who run the real service treat them as an embarrassment to be managed. The show's tension comes from watching competent people do difficult work inside a system designed to humiliate them.

Then there's Jackson Lamb. Gary Oldman plays him as a man who has seen the service at its worst and responded with contempt — for management, for protocol, for anyone who mistakes a meeting for work. The humor is dark and specific, and it lands because the characters underneath it are real. Lamb is cruel, but he's cruel in defense of people the institution would rather forget.

The best shows in this space share that combination: the dysfunction is the story, not the backdrop. The spies are people first. And the institution is never as smart as it thinks it is. The recommendations below are sorted by which of those qualities they match — institutional dysfunction, straight spy craft, or Gary Oldman himself.

If You Want the Institutional Dysfunction

The Diplomat (Netflix, 2023, ongoing). A career diplomat gets posted to London as ambassador in the middle of an international crisis, and her marriage to a politically ambitious husband is part of the wreckage. The show is about how diplomacy actually works — badly, through ego and compromise — and the dark humor is the closest thing on this list to Slow Horses' tone. Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell. The dysfunction is the plot, not the setting.

The Bureau (Paramount+, 2015–2020, 5 seasons, French). The French answer to le Carré: an intelligence service that runs deep-cover agents abroad, and the institutional cost of maintaining those lies. The dysfunction is quieter than Slow Horses — less comedy, more weight — but the core is the same: competent people ground down by a system that treats them as expendable. Mathieu Kassovitz. Available to buy on Amazon.

Berlin Station (2016–2019, 3 seasons). A CIA station in Berlin, internal leaks, and the gap between what headquarters wants to hear and what the field actually knows. The institutional politics are the plot — who gets protected, who gets burned, and how the bureaucracy covers itself. Available to buy on Amazon.

Condor (MGM+, 2018–2020, 2 seasons). A young CIA analyst discovers his own agency is running the program he designed against American citizens. The institutional corruption is the threat, not a foreign power. The show is about what happens when the system you serve is the thing you need to survive. Max Irons.

If You Want the Spy Craft

The Day of the Jackal (Peacock, 2024, 1 season). A professional assassin and a British intelligence officer chase each other across Europe. Straighter espionage than Slow Horses — less comedy, more cat-and-mouse — but the craft is precise and the tension holds across the full run. Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. Available to buy on Amazon.

Black Doves (Netflix, 2024, 1 season). A spy living undercover as a politician's wife investigates her lover's murder with the help of an assassin friend. The closest match to Slow Horses' tone — dark humor, London setting, spies who are people first. Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw. A second season is announced, but the first stands on its own.

The Americans (Hulu, 2013–2018, 6 seasons). Soviet deep-cover agents in 1980s Washington, living as a married couple while running operations. The spy craft is serious, but the show is really about the marriage and the lies that hold it together. The best long-form espionage drama of the last decade. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. Available to buy on Amazon.

The Night Manager (Prime Video, 2016, 1 season). A hotel manager is recruited to infiltrate an arms dealer's inner circle. Le Carré adaptation, straight spy craft, and the institutional dysfunction is there — it's just on the side of the people running the operation. Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie. Available to buy on Amazon.

The Old Man (Hulu, 2022–2024, 2 seasons). A former CIA operative living off-grid is pulled back when someone from his past comes for him. The craft is there, but the show is really about what a career in intelligence costs the person who lived it. Jeff Bridges. The second season closes the story. Available to buy on Amazon.

A Spy Among Friends (MGM+, 2022, 1 season). The defection of Kim Philby, told through his friendship with a fellow MI6 officer. British intelligence at its most clubbable and most damaged — the institution is the story, and the betrayal is personal. Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce.

If You Want Gary Oldman

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011, film). Oldman as George Smiley, the retired intelligence officer brought back to find a mole inside the Circus. It's the same institutional decay as Slow Horses, played straight and cold — the predecessor in spirit if not in tone. If Slow Horses is the comedy version, this is the original. Available to rent or buy on Fandango at Home and Google Play (no Amazon availability).

Darkest Hour (2017, film). Oldman as Churchill in May 1940, deciding whether to negotiate or fight. Not a spy story, but it's Oldman doing what he does in Slow Horses — playing a difficult man carrying an institution through a crisis, and making you believe the institution is worth the trouble. Available to rent or buy on Amazon.

When Season 7 Arrives

As of this writing, Apple TV+ has not officially confirmed Slow Horses Season 7. The show has been renewed annually, and the Mick Herron novel series it adapts has more material, so a continuation is plausible — but nothing is announced. Watchmode lists six seasons, the most recent premiering September 16, 2026. When Season 7 is confirmed, this section will be updated. If you want to get ahead of the show, the Mick Herron novels are the source material — each season has adapted one book in the series.

How StreamingBeam Helps

Ask the Beam can take a description — "the one where the spies are the rejects" — and find the title without you having to remember the name. Watchlist alerts flag when any of these leave their platform, which matters because licensing windows move and spy shows rotate between services more often than you'd expect. Search across Apple TV+, Netflix, Peacock, Hulu, Prime Video, Paramount+, and MGM+ from one place. All free with a StreamingBeam account.

Bottom Line

Ten series that share what makes Slow Horses work, plus two Gary Oldman films. For more, see our list of thriller series streaming now, our guide to where to watch Nordic noir, or our picks for underrated shows worth watching in 2026. Track what's new at streamingbeam.com.