Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson Lead Apple TV+’s Explosive New Thriller ‘Down Cemetery Road’
Apple TV+ has unveiled the trailer for one of its most anticipated original dramas of the year — Down Cemetery Road, a gripping detective thriller starring Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson.
Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Mick Herron, the mind behind Slow Horses, the new eight-part series promises a haunting mystery filled with twists, buried secrets, and the kind of dark humor and tension that have made Herron’s work a hallmark of modern British espionage fiction.
Set in the seemingly quiet suburbs of Oxford, Down Cemetery Road begins with a shocking explosion that rips through a residential street, leaving one house in ruins and a young girl missing in the aftermath. What follows is a tense and unpredictable partnership between two women — one haunted by guilt, the other driven by justice — as they uncover a conspiracy far deeper than anyone imagined.
A Quiet Street, a Shattering Secret
Ruth Wilson stars as Sarah Trafford, a seemingly ordinary neighbor whose life takes a sinister turn after the explosion. When the authorities appear strangely unmotivated to find the missing girl, Sarah takes matters into her own hands, enlisting the help of Zoë Boehm, a tough, sharp-witted private investigator played by Emma Thompson.
As the two women dig deeper, they’re drawn into a dangerous web of deceit — a shadowy network where “people long believed dead are still among the living, and the living are fast joining the dead.”
The show’s tone balances realism with psychological intensity, weaving moral ambiguity into every layer of its story. Apple describes the series as “a deeply human mystery that explores grief, guilt, and the lengths people go to uncover the truth — or bury it forever.”
A Stellar British Ensemble
Beyond its powerhouse leads, Down Cemetery Road boasts one of the most impressive supporting casts of any Apple TV+ production to date.
The ensemble includes BAFTA Award winner Adeel Akhtar, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Emmy nominee Tom Goodman-Hill, Darren Boyd, Tom Riley, SAG Award nominee Adam Godley, Sinead Matthews, Ken Nwosu, Fehinti Balogun, and Aiysha Hart.
Together, they form a textured world of suspects, witnesses, and possible conspirators — each harboring secrets of their own.
The series is produced by 60Forty Films, with Morwenna Banks — known for her work on Slow Horses — adapting Herron’s novel and serving as both writer and executive producer. Banks is joined by Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Tom Nash, Emma Thompson, and Herron himself as executive producers. Natalie Bailey, whose credits include Bay of Fires, directs the series.
From the Mind Behind ‘Slow Horses’
Mick Herron’s Down Cemetery Road is the first novel in his celebrated “Zoë Boehm” series, which preceded his globally successful “Slough House” spy novels — the inspiration for Apple TV+’s Emmy Award-winning Slow Horses.
In many ways, Down Cemetery Road marks a return to Herron’s earlier literary world: smaller in scope, but no less dangerous. The story trades the murky corridors of British intelligence for the claustrophobic calm of English suburbia — a setting Herron has often used to explore the quiet hypocrisies and hidden tensions of modern life.
The decision to adapt this earlier work reflects Apple TV+’s growing investment in Herron’s storytelling universe. Slow Horses, which stars Academy Award winner Gary Oldman as the world-weary MI5 agent Jackson Lamb, has already been renewed through its seventh season ahead of its fifth-season premiere in September 2025.
By bringing Herron’s Oxford-set mystery to life, Apple is not only expanding its British drama slate but solidifying its reputation for prestige television that merges intelligence with intensity.
A New Kind of Heroine Duo
At the heart of Down Cemetery Road are two very different women drawn together by circumstance and bound by determination. Thompson’s Zoë Boehm — sardonic, guarded, and morally unflinching — complements Wilson’s Sarah Trafford, whose transformation from passive bystander to relentless seeker of truth drives the emotional core of the story.
“Both characters are survivors,” said Banks in a production note. “They’ve lost things — family, purpose, identity — and through this investigation, they find new versions of themselves. It’s a detective story, yes, but also a story about reinvention and resilience.”
Emma Thompson, who also serves as an executive producer, has called the role one of the most “daring and layered” of her career. Early reactions to the trailer suggest the film’s taut direction and biting dialogue could deliver one of the standout thrillers of the year.
Apple TV+ Continues Its Winning Streak
Since its global launch in 2019, Apple TV+ has rapidly become a powerhouse in original programming, amassing 625 wins and over 2,800 nominations, including Oscars and multiple Emmys for hits like CODA, Ted Lasso, and The Morning Show.
With Down Cemetery Road, the platform deepens its commitment to British prestige drama — pairing its cinematic scale with the literary pedigree of one of the UK’s most decorated crime writers.
Set to premiere Wednesday, October 29, the series promises mystery, danger, and the kind of shocking twists that leave viewers questioning everyone and everything.
When the dust settles on Oxford’s quiet lanes, one truth will remain clear: nothing — and no one — on Down Cemetery Road is ever what it seems.
