!! Spoilers for series six, episode one of Slow Horses. Nothing beyond this episode. Only read on if you've seen it!

I've been eagerly awaiting the return of Slow Horses - one of Apple's best original programmes - and the sixth outing of the spy drama got underway this week. The first episode of each series has two jobs to do: catch us up with where everyone is, and kick off a new mystery to be solved over the next six weeks.

The gang are pretty much where we left them, with the exception of River who is dealing with the loss of his grandfather (the lovely Jonathan Pryce, who makes a brief appearance). But their stagnation might be coming to an end as two as-yet-unnamed people are killing off former Slow Horses. I did spend way too long distracted playing the 'who's that guy' game, only to finally research that it was Syril from Andor. Very odd to see him looking like a normal human.

It's not a surprise to me that this show won an Emmy award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama series, this episode is full of scenes that prove it. A bright yellow car pulling up slowly to a burnt out container in some wasteland. Coe, hood up as always, staring out of the window, framed by the old school lettering painted on the glass. River, anxious and uncomfortable, hovering in the church porch to greet the mourners, surrounded by trees, graves, and rain.

Our Slow Horses are back at their eccentric best too. Coe's incredible moment of turning up to the office, finding an intruder, and hitting him very hard with a computer keyboard - bash first, ask questions later. And Lamb, looking every bit out of place in church as he does everywhere, stifling giggling that in turn made me laugh too.

Kristin Scott Thomas' Diana Taverner, whilst not technically a Slow Horse, was acting suspiciously throughout, that's nothing new. To put my predictions hat on, she definitely knows more than she's letting on. I don't believe she would be behind any of these murders, but she could very well know what's driving it.

Standish has just found out that Lamb was behind the killing of her former boss, which I thought she already knew but obviously was wrong. She's got history of going off the rails, so could be a wild-card over the next couple of episodes. And the homicidal duo suggested River was going to be next on their hit-list but I'm sure someone else is going to end up in their cross hairs first... I'm very worried that it might be Shirley, she's one of my favourites. No one else would have the balls to throw a dart at Roddy's back, and score a direct hit!

The episode achieved its goals. We're back in business at Slough House and there's a new mystery afoot. There's a real joy in looping back in on these characters' lives but the new nefarious plot won the day, raising lots of questions in just the first hour. Thankfully, each series is only six episodes long, so the great news is we won't have to wait long to find out the answers!