Resurrection, the third episode in the sixth series of Slow Horses wrestles with one big paradox. The slow horses may be fighting for their lives, but some who remain a step or two in front of the grim reaper aren’t necessarily full of joy at their continued existence. Sid is back from the dead, having gone through three years of recovery and perhaps isolation. Moira couldn’t be more put out to have been saved. Louisa panics and implausibly pretends she doesn’t know the former colleagues who have come to find her. Emma Flyte would rather walk out of the secret service than be transferred to Aldersgate. Lamb might say that she’s saved him the bother of making her life a misery.

The introduction – or reintroduction – of characters such as Louisa, Moira, Sid and Reece means we have some truly enjoyable oddball moments as the little groups scoot around the city, the countryside and the occasional cowshed. Nothing demonstrates the gap between Louisa’s old world and her new than her proposing to use satnav to get to the safe house rather than Catherine’s road atlas, while Shirley waves around Louisa’s Balinese keyring like an annoying six year-old. Later, Louisa has to take control after yet more outbursts from Shirley, this time while they’re trying to buy a gun.

In contrast, Sid and River seem to find their old groove of informed banter pretty quickly. I would have loved to have seen more of Anne, who might have made a good foil for Molly Doran in another workplace sitcom. There’s a huge amount of news between River and Sid that isn’t getting shared, and we’re happy with that, though we aren’t sure the extent to which her brain injury is affecting her abilities, or indeed the role of Poirot in all this. 

All of MI5’s activities are, of course, carried out On His Majesty’s Secret Service, and it’s great to have a plot point that refers to the classic 1969 Bond film. Bond escapes from Blofeld’s lair, Piz Gloria, and wants to contact M to explain what he’s uncovered. He and Tracy are on the run, but he insists. On stopping at a payphone, Bond finds himself under fire from Blofeld’s heavies. Now, Sid wants to ring First Desk. She and River are on the run, but Sid insists. They are dark so Sid needs a payphone and the cliffhanger at the end of the episode is that she is about to find that the real name of the Russian agent, known previously as Jane, is Irma Bunt. Lamb’s often ribbed River about his Bond tendencies but when it comes to acting out a scene, Sid beats him to it.

I wasn’t sure whether the Lenny Rush character would land well, but the chemistry between Rush and Gary Oldman, and the way in which they find discomfort for Roddy Ho, is a joy to watch. Ho thinks he understands kids’ psychology (and claims Reece as his Padawan) but we suspect he’s no stranger to the gaming arcade he suggests. Reece and Ho’s disappointment when they learn they aren’t going to get to play glosses is a highlight of the episode, but when Oldman and Rush decide that their chemistry involves games of releasing internal chemicals then we have quite the contrast wth the earlier attempt on Moira’s life. There are times this show does subtlety. And there are other times.

But while there are smiles to leaven the tension for those on the road, in the corridors of power there is only pressure. Diana Taverner is in a helluva spot, one which she knows is of her own making or at least a result of being outmanoeuvred. She’s now at the stage where Damien Cantor is openly trolling her with hampers. To clear it up, she’s going to have to follow both London and Moscow Rules, which means there’s no place at the Park for independent thought. Flyte, with her old fashioned views on ethics and protocol, has got to go. Which raises the question of what Diana has done. It isn’t clear that she can see the whole board, and she’s certainly not going to admit that at this stage to Jackson Lamb. But from the clues put forward in these three episodes (ie, ignoring the source books), it seems thus: Judd’s money, aka Damien’s money, has been spent by Diana on retaliation following a Russian nerve attack on British soil. Sid’s name was used. As counter-retaliation, the Russians are targeting the department that Sid was supposedly part of. There are quite a few loose ends, such as the involvement of Judd and the identity of the person who wiped the digital files on the slow horses. But Jackson seems to have picked up on the ‘retaliation’ reference. We still have three episodes to go and if they’re half as good as this week’s offering we’re in for a series of treats. Just try telling that to the poor employees of Slough House.

Episode 4, Lost and Found, will be available on 7 October 2026 on Apple TV.

Find the rest of our Slow Horses coverage, including reviews of all the Slough House novels and associated stories, and episode recaps of series 5 and 6, here.