Down Cemetery Road spoiler-free review: Slow Horses fans won’t want to miss this

Slow Horses has been one of Apple’s flagship shows since it first debuted in 2022, with Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb and the wider ensemble capturing the hearts of fans across the globe. It seemed inevitable that Mick Herron’s earlier novels, based on Oxford-based Private Investigator Zoë Boehm, would eventually get a similar treatment.

The resulting show, Down Cemetery Road, is out now on Apple TV (formerly known as Apple TV+), starring Emma Thompson as Boehm and Ruth Wilson as her co-lead, Sarah Tucker, a disgruntled housewife who finds herself at the heart of a conspiracy.

The question for Slow Horses fans will be if this show, written by Morwenna Banks, lives up to the hype of the previous Herron adaptation. Read on for my spoiler-free thoughts on the season.

Down Cemetery Road is different to Slow Horses in several ways

There are several crucial differences between Down Cemetery Road and Slow Horses. While Aldersgate and London are at the heart of the latter, this series is set in Oxford (where Herron himself lives).

We open with Sarah and her husband Mark having guests for dinner, Mark’s work associate Gerard and Sarah’s quirky friends. Their meal is interrupted by an explosion at a neighbouring property. While dismissed quickly as a gas leak, all is not what it seems, and Dinah, one of Sarah’s neighbours who survived the incident, suddenly disappears.

While Slow Horses is about MI5 and its rejects, Down Cemetery Road is more focused on everyday folk

The narrative takes us from Oxford (Bristol filling in for many filming locations) to Scotland via Reading and numerous other locations. The road trip-like nature of the show instantly makes it feel like a departure from Slow Horses and gives it a unique flavour.

While Slow Horses is about MI5 and its rejects, Down Cemetery Road is more focused on everyday folk, more of a conventional crime show with Zoë and her husband Joe running an Oxford investigative firm that is recruited to investigate Dinah’s disappearance. Thompson’s Zoë is a real departure from her other roles, leather-clad with spiky hair and a punkish, carefree attitude. Sarah, on the other hand, is more reserved and out of her depth doing investigative work. The focus on female characters also makes the show feel fresh.

There is no shortage of action

There is certainly no shortage of thrills, from the explosive opening to a number of chase sequences, shootouts and close shaves. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. There are all sorts of antagonists on Zoë and Sarah’s trail, from hitmen hired by shady organisations and people higher up the chain.

The action is, as you would expect from the same team as Slow Horses, impressively staged. Rest assured, there is still some razor-sharp dialogue and wry humour. Zoë is not one to mince her words, speaking her mind in an often-hilarious fashion, finding a light-hearted take even in the bleakest of moments. Despite this, she is a far cry from Jackson Lamb, full of energy and a desire to do the right thing even if it means putting herself and those she cares about in harm’s way.

That said, with a higher number of episodes than Slow Horses, some parts of the plot feel dragged out compared to the source material.

Another winning ensemble cast

Joining Thompson and Wilson is another starry supporting cast with Adeel Akhtar, Darren Boyd, and Lydia Leonard among the wider ensemble. Boyd’s C engages in keeping events concealed and preventing them from escalating.

It is very much the Thompson and Wilson show, however. The pair are a delight whenever they interact – their contrasting personas at odds on how to proceed, a perfect odd couple. Even though she is the lead in the book series, in the original novel Zoë’s role is surprisingly slight. This is addressed in the series, giving her more to do as the series unfurls, Thompson revelling in the role. 

The pair are a delight whenever they interact, their contrasting personas at odds on how to proceed

Sarah is a determined figure and highlights Wilson’s range, certainly a departure from menacing characters like Alice Morgan or Mrs Coulter, whom she has portrayed previously. Wilson brilliantly captures how uncomfortable she is, managing to hang on by hook or by crook and sheer determination.

While Herron’s original novel was published in the noughties, the adaptation feels distinctly contemporary. Morwenna Banks successfully ports it into the 2020s with topical plot points and dialogue, while retaining the essence of Herron’s source material. Fans of the book will find plenty they recognise.

Should you watch Down Cemetery Road?

Down Cemetery Road is another highly entertaining, action-packed Mick Herron adaptation. The changes from the source material feel natural without losing what made the novel work in the first place.

One drawback for me is that the series is a tad long. While Slow Horses works as six episodes, the eight episodes here can at times feel stretched, the majority running between 50 minutes to an hour. The novel itself is quite slight, so there is some padding in places. A slightly more concise series could have been something truly special.

Should the series prove a success, there is every chance it may end up another multi-season show, with four books published by Herron. So, this is unlikely to be the last we see of Zoë Boehm on the small screen.

Down Cemetery Road drops on Apple TV globally on 29 October 2025 – new episodes will drop weekly. New users can get a seven-day free trial.

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