Entertainment

Forget 'Slow Horses', the Next Best British Spy Thriller Officially Arrives This Month

Nairavoice · Nov 3, 2026 · 5 min read

Lade Omotade is a News and Features Author at Collider, covering everything from casting announcements and streaming trends to behind-the-scenes stories and the cultural impact of today’s biggest film and TV franchises. Since joining the team in 2024, she has written more than 1,000 news stories, with her work also cited by outlets like AOL and IMDb.

Apple TV’s Slow Horses remains the year’s most enjoyable British spy thriller. Set in London, the series follows Slough House, a disrespected MI5 unit regularly undermined and where disgraced or failed agents are sent to be supervised by the crass Jackson Lamb, portrayed by Gary Oldman. The black comedy premiered on Apple TV+ on April 1, 2022, to highly positive reviews, and recently returned for its sixth season, which aired from September 16 to October 21, 2026.

Given its consistently strong reception, the 97% Rotten Tomatoes drama has been renewed for Seasons 7 and 8. Neither, of course, will premiere anytime soon. In the meantime, the next best British spy thriller is officially coming to America, making it perfect for Slow Horses fans. Based on Tom Bradby’s novel of the same name, the series premiered at the Italian Global Series Festival before airing in the U.K. on ITV1 earlier in April, where its first episode drew 3.9 million viewers. It’s now making its official U.S. debut in just a couple of weeks.

Directed by James Marsh and Farren Blackburn, Secret Service premieres on MGM+ on November 22, 2026, at 10/9c for audiences in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Italy, per TV Insider. A trailer has also been released ahead of its stateside arrival, teasing high stakes with Gemma Arterton’s character, Kate Henderson, at the center. Alongside Arterton, Secret Service stars Rafe Spall, who won Best Lead Actor (Drama) at the Italian Global Series Festival; Aoife Hinds; Amaka Okafor; Avi Nash; Alex Kingston, winner of Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series at the National Film Awards; Mark Stanley; Roger Allam; Alma Prelec; and Khalid Abdalla.

Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours.
Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from
the encounter.

Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you
completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the
conversation is.

Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He
never raises his voice, because he has never needed to.
You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve
is exactly the door he would knock on.
The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence.
It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person.
He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.

Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is
after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.

The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence
against him. It is the entire reason he showed up.
He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool
you would normally reach for.
His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend
the rest of your life proving him wrong.
He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.

Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work
out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.

Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from:
a mind the equal of the hero’s, pointed the wrong way.
You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he
has already built the room.
This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs
the game to be worth playing.
It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.

Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that
is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.

Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the
answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no
interest in how capable you are.
No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences
quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work.
Call it. He will wait.

The Next Best British Spy Series Is Perfect for ‘Slow Horses’ Fans

As the official synopsis teases, Secret Service follows Kate Henderson, a senior MI6 officer and head of the Russia Desk, as a covert investigation uncovers evidence that a high-ranking U.K. politician may be a Russian asset. With trust shattered and her career at stake, Kate must navigate shifting political loyalties, international threats, and personal sacrifice as she races to identify the politician before it’s too late. Bradby adapted the espionage thriller with Jemma Kennedy. Gail Egan and Andrea Calderwood executive produce alongside Bradby and Chloe Sizer.

Secret Service premieres in the U.S. in two weeks. Stay tuned to Collider for more information and watch the trailer above.