If You Like Slow Horses, You’ll Love Conspiracy Thriller Down Cemetery Road

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The new Apple TV+ thriller, Down Cemetery Road, begins with Sarah Trafford (Ruth Wilson) seeking help from private investigator Zoë Boehm (Emma Thompson). Boehm quickly jokes about a typical case – a husband, a secretary – but she’s way off. Sarah isn’t dealing with a love triangle; she’s caught up in a strange mystery that doesn’t directly involve her own life. This unusual focus sets the stage for a surprisingly compassionate and gripping conspiracy thriller, debuting October 29th.

Sarah, an art conservator who loves delicate work, is struggling to host a dinner party. Her husband, Tom Riley, is trying to win over a difficult potential investor, Tom Goodman-Hill, when an actual bomb explodes nearby. Firefighters suspect a gas leak as a young girl named Dinah is rescued – she’s the only one who survived, having lost her mother in the blast. When Sarah visits the hospital with a card for Dinah, she’s met with strangely unfriendly staff. Dinah isn’t mentioned in news reports about the explosion, and someone has even removed her from a photograph.

The more we get to know Sarah – a complex character created by Wilson, blending intelligence, strong morals, hidden vulnerabilities, and anxiety – the more believable it becomes that she’d risk everything to save a young child she doesn’t even know. Initially, Zoë, a tough and witty woman with a hint of faded elegance and a difficult relationship with her kind but awkward husband and colleague, Joe (Adam Godley), doubts Sarah. However, she quickly finds herself compelled to help find the missing girl, Dinah. As their search unfolds, they encounter villains who are surprisingly complex, and others who seem to embody pure malice. The case quickly proves to be much more dangerous than a simple missing-person investigation.

The show’s central conspiracy feels a bit too simple considering how big it’s supposed to be. However, the characters are incredibly well-developed and each episode has at least one major surprise, so it’s easy to see why the writer, Morwenna Banks, focused on those strengths. Banks also worked on the popular spy thriller Slow Horses, which, like this show, is adapted from a book series by Mick Herron. Both shows explore the idea that even unlikely heroes can make a difference, and Slow Horses has been successful for five seasons (with two more planned). Hopefully, this group of unique characters will have many more stories to tell.

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2025-10-29 10:06