Slow Horses season 6 is underway, bringing back the intrigue, suspense, and humor of the acclaimed spy series. The show has a blast using and subverting spy genre tropes while also telling an underdog story about the least likely heroes in MI-6. However, even with its unique tone, there are other shows fans of Slow Horses can check out.
Slow Horses walks a fine line between being hilarious and not becoming a full-blown comedy. It still keeps the stakes of the spy world high while having fun with its ridiculous aspects. It also doesn’t worry about making its heroes perfect, with Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb being both grotesque and cunning. All these aspects make for something special, but there are other spy shows where fans can find similar elements.
The Americans
The Americans follows two Russian spies (played by The Diplomat's Keri Russell and Widow's Bay's Matthew Rhys) living undercover as a normal married couple in 1980s America. They have to balance their secret work with their family life. It's a tense, serious show with plenty of twists.
Like Slow Horses, it shows the messy side of spy work. The characters often have to make difficult choices and deal with the results. While it is not as funny as Slow Horses, if you like the darker and more grounded spy aspects of that show, The Americans will likely appeal to you.
Black Doves
Black Doves is a Netflix series that exists in a slightly more heightened spy world than Slow Horses. It follows a spy living a secret life in London. She has a family, friends, and a career that no one knows about, only for the two worlds to collide.
It has some of the same dark humor as Slow Horses, never taking itself too seriously without taking away from the tension. Both shows are also full of spies who aren't quite as cool or perfect as they seem. Black Doves is more action-heavy, but it has a similar mix of danger and comedy.
Patriot
Patriot follows an intelligence officer who goes undercover to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Things quickly become much harder than he expected. It's strange and funny, but it can be surprisingly dark as well.
It's a good choice if the humor in Slow Horses is what you enjoy most. Both shows find comedy in the strange world of intelligence work. They are also both very willing to make their spy protagonists look foolish as things spiral out of control.
Killing Eve
Killing Eve is probably the closest thing fans will find to that balance between dark humor and spy thrills. It follows a British intelligence agent who is trying to catch a mysterious assassin. The chase soon becomes much more personal than expected.
Like Slow Horses, Killing Eve has a lot of fun taking apart the spy genre and exploring the very human characters with all their flaws. With both its heroes and villains, it is never black-and-white, which gives the movie a wonderful unpredictable quality.
The Night Manager
Novelist John le Carré is one of the most influential voices in the spy genre, and The Night Manager stands as one of the best adaptations of his work. Tom Hiddleston stars as a former soldier who is recruited by British intelligence. He goes undercover to get close to a dangerous arms dealer.
The Night Manager is a much more serious spy thriller, with some real tension and thrills. However, like Slow Horses, it is a joy to spend time in this grounded and intelligent spy world. It never seeks to be bigger or more epic but rather tells a solid and gripping spy story perfectly.
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