By James Hibbs

Published: Sunday, 15 January 2023 at 12:00 am


This year may be kicking off with some great TV, but there have rarely been such high anticipation for a TV series based on a video game as there is for HBO’s The Last of Us.

The new dystopian sci-fi series lands this week and has been hyped up as a successful, faithful adaptation, even if writer and executive producer Craig Mazin has admitted that they did “deviate” from the original game.

Along with a standout cast, the new series has swept up countless positive reviews, hailing it as one of the best TV adaptation series to date. With the show arriving this week, what is the release schedule for new episodes?

When will the first episode be available to watch and how many instalments will the series have in total? Read on for everything you need to know about the release schedule for The Last of Us.

How many episodes of The Last of Us are there?

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Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel in The Last of Us.
HBO

There are nine episodes in this first season of The Last of Us, which reportedly run for varying lengths, from 46 minutes to 81 minutes.

It’s not yet been announced whether there will be any episodes beyond this first season, but it is of course possible that the show will adapt The Last of Us 2 for a second season.

When is The Last of Us episode 1 released?

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Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Anna Torv as Tess in The Last of Us.
HBO/Warner Media

The Last of Us episode 1, titled When You’re Lost in the Darkness, will be released on Monday 16th January 2023 at 2am GMT.

The episode will be made available on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK, while it will air on HBO in the US.

The official synopsis for the episode says: “After a global pandemic destroys civilisation, a hardened survivor takes charge of a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity’s last hope.”

The Last of Us release schedule

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Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us.
HBO / Warner Media

The Last of Us will release one new episode each week, with each new instalment airing simultaneously in both the US and the UK.

This means that each new episode will air at 2am in the UK on Sky Atlantic, after which they will be able to stream on both Sky and NOW on demand.

You can find the full release schedule for The Last of Us right here:

  1. The Last of Us episode 1 – When You’re Lost in the Darkness – Monday 16th January 2023 at 2am GMT
  2. The Last of Us episode 2 – Infected – Monday 23rd January 2023 at 2am GMT
  3. The Last of Us episode 3 – TBC – Monday 30th January 2023 at 2am GMT
  4. The Last of Us episode 4 – TBC – Monday 6th February 2023 at 2am GMT
  5. The Last of Us episode 5 – TBC – Monday 13th February 2023 at 2am GMT
  6. The Last of Us episode 6 – TBC – Monday 20th February 2023 at 2am GMT
  7. The Last of Us episode 7 – TBC – Monday 27th February 2023 at 2am GMT
  8. The Last of Us episode 8 – TBC – Monday 6th March 2023 at 2am GMT
  9. The Last of Us episode 9 – TBC – Monday 13th March 2023 at 2am GMT