‘Slow Horses’ Creator Will Smith Leaving Show After Season 5

Will Smith, the Emmy-winning creator of “Slow Horses,” is exiting the Apple TV+ spy thriller after Season 5, Variety has confirmed.

Smith served as writer and executive producer on the Gary Oldman series and was the showrunner in everything but name. He led the production since Season 1 in 2022, writing scripts adapted from Mick Herron’s “Slough House” novel series. Smith won the Emmy for writing for a drama series in 2024; he’s nominated for writing and for drama series this year.

“Slow Horses” has already been renewed through Season 7 at Apple TV+. For Season 6, Smith is handing over the reins to Gaby Chiappe (of the British crime drama “The Level”), and for Season 7, “All Creatures Great and Small” creator Ben Vanstone is taking over. Smith will not be involved with the series after Season 5.

“Slow Horses” follows a group of disgraced MI5 agents who are relegated to menial tasks after various failures. Led by Oldman, who plays the sour and sardonic Jackson Lamb, the ensemble includes Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner, Sophie Okonedo as Ingrid Tearney, Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright and Hugo Weaving as Frank Harkness.

Season 5 of “Slow Horses” is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on Sept. 24. It will follow Herron’s book “London Rules.”

The series is produced for Apple TV+ by See-Saw Films, with executive producers including Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Julian Stevens, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Adam Randall, Herron, Gail Mutrux, Douglas Urbanski and Oldman.