Apple TV Plus has dropped the first trailer for “Down Cemetery Road,” a new mystery thriller series based on Mick Herron’s novel with key contributors from the Emmy-winning “Slow Horses” involved, and starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson.
If you’ve read Herron’s 2003 novel of the same name, the premise will be familiar, but for newcomers, it has a pretty intriguing setup: the story follows a private investigator in Oxford who’s drawn into a mystery when a local woman becomes fixated on the disappearance of a missing child.
Now with the first trailer, we know what to expect when “Down Cemetery Road” premieres on October 29, 2025.
From the trailer, it looks like Sarah Trafford (Wilson) and Zoë Boehm (Thompson) are in for a tense journey that will take them to unexpected heights in their quest for the truth. We also see Sarah’s initial meeting with the private investigator, who assumes she’s there to follow a cheating husband though her intentions are completely different.
“I think someone is hiding something,” Sarah says about an explosion that has shaken a normally quiet Oxford suburb. When a neighboring house detonates, leaving two dead and a young girl missing, Sarah soon “becomes obsessed with finding her.”
One thing the “Down Cemetery Road” trailer hints at is that the show could easily expand into future seasons, especially through Boehm’s interactions with other characters. Herron has written three sequels to his 2003 novel that focus on Thompson’s character, and with “Slow Horses” moving through all nine of its books, Apple could be looking at another long-running show.
What else do we know about ‘Down Cemetery Road’?
Along with the trailer and release date, we also got an official synopsis: “When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a girl disappears in the aftermath, neighbour Sarah Trafford (Ruth Wilson) becomes obsessed with finding her and enlists the help of private investigator Zoë Boehm (Emma Thompson).
“Zoë and Sarah suddenly find themselves in a complex conspiracy that reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead.”
The cast also includes Adeel Akhtar as Hamza, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Downey, Tom Goodman-Hill as Gerard, Tom Riley as Mark, Adam Godley as Joe Silverman, Sinead Matthews as Denise, Ken Nwosu as Rufus, Fehinti Balogun as Amos, Aiysha Hart as Paula, Steven Cree as Bob Poland, and Darren Boyd as C.
Morwenna Banks, the head writer of “Down Cemetery Road” and a contributor to multiple episodes of “Slow Horses,” also serves as an executive producer alongside Thompson, Herron, and Jamie Laurenson, as well as Hakan Kousetta and Tom Nash. The series is directed by Natalie Bailey, known for “The Unusual Suspects” and “Audrey.”
In an interview with TV Insider, Wilson said: “It was really fun to do. It was mad, and it’s a madcap odyssey. It gets mad as it goes on and gets more wild and dangerous, and the landscape changes, and in the way it’s shot is all wild and brutal in the last three, and it feels like a sort of action movie thriller by the end, so I love the journey of it.
“That’s why it’s different to Slow Horses in a way. It’s a road movie and it’s an odyssey for these two characters, and through it, they’re finding things out about themselves as they go, so it’s very different. It is in the same world and the same humor and wit as Slow Horses, but actually structurally, it’s quite different.”
If you love “Slow Horses,” there’s a good chance “Down Cemetery Road” will hit the same sweet spot. Plus, it’s based on novels by Herron, the author behind that beloved spy series with Gary Oldman, so the twists, clever plotting, and quirky characters are all likely to be there. Think of it as the same kind of twisty, character-driven ride, just set in a quieter Oxford suburb.
Even better, “Down Cemetery Road” premieres just a week after the “Slow Horses” season 5 finale, making it the perfect follow-up for fans craving another dose of clever plotting and twisty drama. It’s the ideal way to keep the suspense going without missing a beat.
The eight-part series will debut worldwide on Apple TV Plus with its first two episodes dropping Wednesday, October 29, and new installments arriving weekly every Wednesday until December 10.
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