Fans of Slow Horses look worried now that creator/EP Will Smith's exit has left the Apple TV thriller's future in question 

Things at the Slough House are shaking up as creator Will Smith has announced his departure from Slow Horses post Season 5.

The creator/writer, who won an Emmy Award for the show in 2024, was recently nominated for another Emmy Award. However, Season 5, premiering on Apple TV in Fall 2025, will be the last creatively led and written season by Will Smith.

Slow Horses, based on Mick Herron's series of Slough House books, is led by Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden and follows an administrative purgatory for MI5 service rejects who are assigned to the Slough House and made to do menial tasks. However, led by their rude and unkempt leader, Jackson Lamb, they become entangled in high-stakes cases involving Britain.

In a statement to Deadline, Will Smith revealed that Season 5 is the right time to move on and bring fresh energy into the project, which is why he made this key decision.

This is how Reddit users are reacting to Will Smith's departure from Slow Horses.

Reddit fans react as creator Will Smith exits Slow Horses post-Season 5

While Slow Horses fans largely sympathized with Will Smith over his reasons to exit the show after Season 5, they could not help but worry about the fate of the thriller show.

The Emmy-nominated show is hailed for Smith's witty and clever writing, while maintaining a minimum gap between seasons. While TV shows now take forever between seasons, the Apple TV show has consistently released new seasons while maintaining its quality.

Concerned fans flocked to Reddit to share their worries and hopes for Slow Horses after Will Smith's departure:

''I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the crew behind the show can still keep its same feel without Smith.'' u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 seem hoepful

Many users also hoped that the show would not feel vastly different under new creative leadership. The user hoped to see Will Smith's early ideas for Slow Horses Seasons 6 and 7 materialize on-screen:

''Would be promising if he already went through some basic ideas over how he sees S6 & S7 going story-wise (just so he sees how their vision matches with the way the show's been building up under him) going with his successors before his departure.''

''Please don't suck...I think this is potentially the best show on TV right now.'' u/Randyd718 also hopes for the best

User Wallaby989 compared the situation with BBC's Doctor Who, when Russell T Davies stepped away from the show for the first time in 2010:

''While sad, I empathize with him stepping aside on a high. I hope this doesn't go the same way as DrWho when RussellTDavis stepped away the first time around.''

What's next for Slow Horses after Will Smith's departure?

Since Apple TV had already renewed its thriller show till Season 7, Will Smith has handed off the control of Slow Horses to Gaby Chiappe (Shetland, EastEnders) for Season 6 and Ben Vanstone (All Creatures Great and Small, Merlin) for Season 7. The creator will not be involved in the project in any capacity beyond Season 5.

Seasons 6 and 7 will adapt Herron's Joe Country and Bad Actors, respectively. It remains to be seen how this big creative change will affect the tone of the show that has largely maintained its quality for five seasons.

While Will Smith has departed from the show, he is keen on a Slow Horses spin-off, based on Herron's standalone novel The Secret Hours, which is also a companion read to his Slough House books. Discussing this idea with Deadline, Smith revealed:

“His book The Secret Hours is the one I was always saying we should do...It’s a kind of Lamb/ Molly/ David prequel, as well as a book set in the present. And it’s absolutely brilliant. And it’s one of my favorites he’s done. I think that could be a great standalone film or a three-episode miniseries.”

Season 5 will premiere on Apple TV on 24 September 2025.

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