Slow Horses is almost back, with Apple’s scruffy collection of disgraced spies returning for Season 6 on September 16. The new run once again consists of six episodes, but viewers hoping to tear through Jackson Lamb’s latest disaster in a weekend will have to exercise some patience: Apple TV is sticking with a weekly release schedule.

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The official premiere date is Wednesday, September 16, followed by a new episode every Wednesday until the finale on October 21. There is, however, a reasonable chance some viewers will see episodes appear slightly earlier. Apple has recently made Wednesday-dated shows such as Ted Lasso available on Tuesday evening in the US. Apple hasn’t confirmed that Slow Horses will follow the same timing, though, so September 16 remains the date viewers should actually circle on the calendar.

Season 6 opens with “Circle of Life,” followed by “Daddy Issues” on September 23, “Resurrection” on September 30, “Lost & Found” on October 7 and “Sayonara” on October 14. The sixth and final episode, “Judgement Day,” arrives October 21. Reported runtimes mostly sit around the high-40-minute mark, while the finale is expected to stretch to approximately an hour.

The bigger question is what fresh catastrophe Jackson Lamb and his deeply dysfunctional MI5 rejects are walking into this time. Season 6 pulls material from two of Mick Herron’s Slough House novels, Joe Country and Slough House, rather than adapting just one book. Apple’s synopsis remains deliberately light on specifics, but Diana Taverner becomes involved in events that leave the Slow Horses caught up in retaliation and revenge.

Gary Oldman is naturally back as Lamb, alongside Jack Lowden as River Cartwright and Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner. Saskia Reeves, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Rosalind Eleazar, Jonathan Pryce and Hugo Weaving also return. One particularly notable comeback is Olivia Cooke as Sidonie “Sid” Baker, returning after being absent since the show’s first season. New additions include Lenny Rush, Harry Lloyd and Kyle Soller.

Slow Horses reaching a sixth season without substantially slowing its release rhythm is increasingly unusual in the streaming era, where two or three-year gaps between seasons have become frustratingly normal. Apple clearly sees value in keeping the espionage drama moving, too. Season 6 won’t be the end: a seventh season has already been ordered and is set to draw from Bad Actors, the eighth novel in Herron’s series.

There is no confirmed Season 7 premiere date yet, making October 21 the furthest fixed point on the Slow Horses calendar. For now, viewers have another six weeks of Slough House incompetence, political scheming and Jackson Lamb being spectacularly unpleasant to look forward to.