
Shows that feel likeSlow Horses (2022–)
If you loved Slow Horses, the closest series we have are The Chestnut Man (2021), The Alienist (2018) and The Undoing (2020). All three share Slow Horses' gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Killing (2011).
If Slow Horses hit the spot, these will too

Gritty and contemplative in the same breath

A team of misfit outsiders working a case the establishment fumbles
The difference: Grim period seriousness — not a laugh in the building


Drama built on grit, twice over

Quiet professionals watching a case poison everything around them
The difference: A family tragedy, not espionage — and completely humorless

Weary investigators grinding at a case that refuses to make sense
The difference: Supernatural dread replaces the bureaucratic satire

A shambolic, written-off investigator who's better than anyone admits
The difference: Small-town grief drama — no spies, no institutional comedy

The unglamorous slog of investigation, rain and dead ends included
The difference: Relentlessly bleak, with no gallows wit to cut it

Systems full of tired people quietly failing the case in front of them
The difference: One case, one season, and it lands like a punch, not a smirk

A poisonous workplace where the real danger sits behind a desk
The difference: Lurid stylized melodrama — camp where Slow Horses is dry

A brilliant, insufferable operator running rings around his agency
The difference: A slick network procedural — formula over character rot

Contemplative mystery, and it commits to that
In the mood for more gritty?
all gritty shows →The best-reviewed series that share Slow Horses’ defining feeling.









