‘This show rules and I hope it never ends’: Patton Oswalt celebrates a streaming sensation’s season 6 renewal

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt has always been a cinephile, even before he became famous in Hollywood. In his 2015 memoir titled Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life From an Addiction to Film, the actor wrote about his addiction to watching movies and how it ruled his life so much that he watched more than 250 movies in the theater in the span of a year. “It was really biting hours and days out of my life,” he told NPR.

Oswalt has since gotten over his addiction, but he still enjoys watching movies and shows. He particularly enjoys British television and said it “overlaps into my film nerdom.” At the BAFTA TV Tea Party held in Sept. 2024, the actor said he’s a huge fan of Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, and Slow Horses. On Oct. 15, in response to Apple TV’s post about the announcement Slow Horses sixth season renewal, Oswalt posted on X saying how he wishes the show would never end.

Slow Horses has received highly positive reviews since its debut

Slow Horses’ first season debuted on Apple TV+ in April 2022. The show is based on a series of spy novels written by British author Mick Herron titled Slough House. It focuses on the lives of MI5 rejects who have failed in previous missions and are left to do mundane office tasks in the Slough House under the rule of Jackson Lamb, portrayed by Gary Oldman. The series also stars Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sophie Okonedo, Jonathan Pryce, and Hugo Weaving.

Slow Horses has a 98 percent rating on the Tomatometer (critic reviews) and 91 percent rating on the Popcornmeter (user reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes, with the majority praising Oldman for his role as the witty and gruff anti-hero in the series. Before getting the role, the veteran actor said he was looking for “something where I can use my own accent, I don’t have costume changes, and I’m not rolling around in blood and mud. And it should be a long-form TV series, and the writing needs to be fantastic.” A few weeks later, he heard about Slow Horses and it ticked all the boxes he wanted to do for his next project.

Season 6 was ordered ahead of the season 5 premiere

Season 5 has yet to premiere, but the series has already been renewed for a sixth season, much to Oswalt’s delight. According to Deadline, season 6 will be based on Joe Country and Slough House, the sixth and seventh books in Herron’s series. “Audiences around the world have fallen in love with the Slow Horses, and I’m delighted that Gary Oldman will be leading this star-studded cast on another acerbic and action-packed adventure,” Creative Director for Apple TV Plus Europe Jay Hunt stated.

According to reports, season 5 has just wrapped up filming and season 6 — which will have six episodes just like previous seasons — will start production soon. For now, Oldman is happy playing Jackson Lamb and said that he’ll do it “as long as Apple will let us do the show.”