Slow Horses
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48 free Slow Horses trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
Slow Horses turned Mick Herron's novels about MI5's rejects into one of the best-reviewed shows on television, with Gary Oldman's flatulent, brilliant Jackson Lamb presiding over Slough House and a schedule that somehow delivers a new series every year. These 48 questions cover the show and its source: the cast from Jack Lowden and Kristin Scott Thomas to Jonathan Pryce and Hugo Weaving, why each slow horse was banished, the Dogs and "Spider" Webb, the Sons of Albion, Upshott and Chieftain, which novel each series adapts, the single-director rule, the back-to-back shooting schedule, Emmy nominations and Rotten Tomatoes scores. The books get their due too: Barbican not Slough, the Gold Dagger for Dead Lions, Andy Dalziel as Lamb's model, Waterstones and Nancy Pearl rescuing the series, and the 7/7 commute that turned Herron into a spy novelist. Easy questions stick to the main cast and the premise; the hard tier asks about guest stars, directors and publishing history. Every answer is cited to a page we checked and comes with a short explanation that adds one more fact. Play it solo or print it for a spy-thriller night.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who plays Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses?
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman plays Lamb, who secretly slips a gun into Standish's handbag so she can free them both after MI5 seizes them in series 1.
Q 02What is Jackson Lamb notorious for doing in front of his agents in Slow Horses?
Farting
Farting is Lamb's calling card, and one critic joked his farts deserve their own SAG card, yet he is fiercely protective of his agents.
Q 03On which streaming service did Slow Horses premiere?
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ renewed Slow Horses for a seventh series in July 2025, before its fifth series had even premiered.
Q 04What does Jackson Lamb call the agents he is loyal to in Slow Horses?
Joes
Joes is Herron's word for agents, and Lamb, now a shambles, was once a formidable joe himself in Berlin.
Q 05Who adapted Slow Horses for television and served as its showrunner?
Will Smith
Will Smith, a Thick of It writer, won a 2024 Emmy for Slow Horses and began his speech: 'First of all, relax. Despite my name, I come in peace.'
Q 06Who plays River Cartwright in Slow Horses?
Jack Lowden
Jack Lowden plays River, who in series 4 lets MI5, and even Louisa, believe he has been shot dead by his own grandfather.
Q 07Who plays Diana Taverner in Slow Horses?
Kristin Scott Thomas
Kristin Scott Thomas plays Taverner, who in series 3 quietly feeds a rogue team hunting MI5's buried Footprint file.
Q 08What is Diana Taverner's MI5 designation through Slow Horses' first five series?
Second Desk
Second Desk means deputy director general, and Taverner only becomes First Desk when Claude Whelan is pressured into resigning at the end of series 5.
Q 09Who plays River's grandfather David Cartwright in Slow Horses?
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce plays David, whom River commits to a care home against his wishes at the end of series 4.
Q 10In Slow Horses, who is revealed to be River Cartwright's biological father?
Frank Harkness
Frank Harkness, a CIA operative turned mercenary played by Hugo Weaving, raises sons as trained killers and slips a live grenade into River's hood.
Q 11Who plays Catherine Standish in Slow Horses?
Saskia Reeves
Saskia Reeves plays Standish, who quits Slough House in series 3 when Lamb reveals her late idol, Charles Partner, had planned to frame her.
Q 12Why was Louisa Guy sent to Slough House in Slow Horses?
She lost a tail on a suspect
She lost a tail on a suspect, and after Min Harper's murder Louisa confronts the Russian she blames with a utility knife, meaning to torture him.
Q 13What is Roddy Ho's speciality in Slow Horses?
Computers
Computers are Roddy Ho's gift, yet in series 4 his online girlfriend, Kim, turns out to be a scam bot.
Q 21Critics have likened Slow Horses' Peter Judd to which real British politician?
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson fits Judd, Herron has said, 'but so do many other politicians': he wrote the MP as a generic right-wing bogeyman.
Q 22Who plays bumbling MI5 Director General Claude Whelan in Slow Horses?
James Callis
James Callis plays Whelan, who exiles records keeper Moira Tregorian to Slough House after she unwittingly finds evidence of his visits to prostitutes.
Q 23Which far-right group kidnaps student Hassan Ahmed in Slow Horses' first series?
Sons of Albion
The Sons of Albion kidnapping was engineered by MI5's own Diana Taverner as a false-flag operation, with her mole planted inside the group.
Q 14Who plays Shirley Dander in Slow Horses?
Aimee-Ffion Edwards
Aimee-Ffion Edwards plays Shirley, who rides to Roddy's rescue when the assassin Chernitsky ambushes him on a train in series 2.
Q 15Who plays MI5 Director General Ingrid Tearney in Slow Horses?
Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo plays Tearney, who is forced to resign after River leaks proof that she covered up a botched trial of an MI5 hacking device.
Q 16Why was Min Harper assigned to Slough House in Slow Horses?
He left a secret disk on a train
He left a secret disk on a train, and in series 2 Min is murdered by Russian heavies who stage it as a drunken cycling accident.
Q 17Who plays Sidonie "Sid" Baker in Slow Horses?
Olivia Cooke
Olivia Cooke plays Sid, whose MI5 records are wiped after she is shot in series 1, before her surprise return in series 6.
Q 18Why was Struan Loy banished to Slough House in Slow Horses?
An inappropriate work email
An inappropriate work email got Struan Loy exiled, and in series 1 Taverner has him quietly detained at MI5 headquarters and pressed for evidence against Lamb.
Q 19What is the nickname of MI5's internal affairs and tactical unit in Slow Horses?
The Dogs
The Dogs are the unit Taverner sends to hunt down Lamb and his agents when her kidnapping scheme unravels in series 1.
Q 20Who plays the ambitious politician Peter Judd in Slow Horses?
Samuel West
Samuel West plays Judd, who as Home Secretary refuses Ingrid Tearney's resignation letter so he can keep her in place.
Q 24Which insect names the secret Russian programme at the heart of Slow Horses' second series?
Cicada
Cicada was a sleeper programme MI5 had long written off as a hoax, until ex-spy Dickie Bow typed the word into his phone as he died.
Q 25In which village does much of Slow Horses' second series take place?
Upshott
Upshott is where River befriends a family whose seemingly innocent mother turns out to be the real Russian sleeper agent.
Q 26How is ex-MI5 officer Dickie Bow killed at the start of Slow Horses' second series?
Poisoned by an old enemy
Poisoned by an old enemy: Bow tailed a Russian who had tortured him in the Cold War, and his death was first ruled a heart attack.
Q 27Which private security firm is at the centre of Slow Horses' third series?
Chieftain
Chieftain, run by Home Secretary Peter Judd's old friend Sly Monteith, is hired as a 'tiger team' to test MI5 by kidnapping Standish.
Q 28In which city does Slow Horses' third series open, as MI5 officer Sean Donovan tails his lover?
Istanbul
Istanbul, where Donovan loses track of his lover Alison Dunn just before she hands over a stolen embassy file and is murdered.
Q 29Who plays London mayor Zafar Jaffrey in Slow Horses' fifth series?
Nick Mohammed
Nick Mohammed, Ted Lasso's Nate, plays Jaffrey, whom Shirley and Standish guard when terrorists try to assassinate him.
Q 30Which Slough House novel did Slow Horses' second series adapt?
Dead Lions
Dead Lions was the sequel that Slow Horses' first UK publisher refused after poor sales, so at first it came out only in the US.