Forget the slick glamour of James Bond and embrace the dishevelled grit of Slough House. Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) will be back, along with this ragtag team of dysfunctional spies, in the sixth series of Slow Horses, which airs on Apple TV from 16 September. Alongside Oldman, the critically acclaimed show stars Kristin Scott Thomas as MI5 director general Diana Taverner, and Jack Lowden (who Oldman is tipping to be the next James Bond) as eager field agent River Cartwright.A darkly comedic take on the espionage genre, the series is based on Mick Herron’s books, with the upcoming sixth instalment drawing inspiration from Joe Country and Slough House.Centering around misfit intelligence officers dubbed as ‘slow horses’ by their peers, the show sees these unlikely heroes fumbling their way through MI5 operations and embroiled in political conspiracies. Despite the somewhat shambolic operatives, the spy plots themselves are just as tight as an Ian Fleming or John Le Carre storyline. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or you’re planning to acquaint yourself with the slow horses for the first time, here’s everything you need to know ahead of the new series. Slow Horses is an Apple TV exclusive, so you’ll need to sign up if you haven’t already. Apple TV costs £9.99 per month. If you’ve yet to subscribe, you can try the streaming service for free, by signing up to a seven-day trial. Apple TV is also home to fan-favourite shows such as Ted Lasso and Silo – new series of which are also available on the streaming platform right now.Sign up to Apple TV now ‘Slow Horses’ season 6 release dateThe first episode of series 6 will air on Wednesday 16 September, so there’s not long to wait. New episodes of the six-part series will then drop weekly until 21 October.‘Slow Horses’ season 6 plotAccording to an Apple TV press release, the new series will see the slow horses on the run, as “Diana Taverner embroils them all in a fatally high-stakes game of retaliation and revenge”.The upcoming season uses the sixth and seventh books in Mick Herron’s series as source material. Joe Country (£9.77, Amazon.co.uk), sees a former colleague of the slow horses asking for their help to find a missing teenager. Their search brings them face-to-face with age-old enemies, while being forced to reckon with unresolved secrets from past operations.Slough House (£10.11, Amazon.co.uk) is set against the backdrop of a growing populist movement in London. When several members of the Slough House team vanish, Lamb must track down whoever is targeting his band of misfits.Find out more about Mick Herron’s Slough House book series ahead of Slow Horses season six