Now that the period drama’s third season has finished airing in the US, will it be returning for a season 4?
While UK viewers are still waiting for Sanditon season 3 to air in the UK, the full season has now finished airing in the US, with fans now desperate to know whether Rose Williams’s Charlotte will be back for more.
The series is based on Jane Austen’s unfinished manuscript of the same name and follows Charlotte and the other residents of new seaside resort Sanditon.
Alongside Williams, it also stars the likes of Crystal Clarke, Ben Lloyd-Hughes and Kris Marshall. But will the show be back for a fourth season?
Read on for everything you need to know about the potential for a Sanditon season 4.
Will there be a Sanditon season 4?
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Sadly, it seems that there won’t.
In December 2022, PBS Masterpiece confirmed in a statement that the third season of Sanditon would be its last, with executive producer Susanne Simpson saying: “Sanditon has been an incredibly special series for Masterpiece, and we know it has found its way into the hearts of countless fans.
“While we are sad to say goodbye to the series, we know our audience has a lot to look forward to in this new season.”
Meanwhile, executive producer for Red Planet Pictures Belinda Campbell added: “It’s a thrill to be bringing Sanditon back to audiences for one more trip to the seaside. This third and final season is full of the heart and joyful spirit that viewers will connect with.
“Our dedicated fans have been absolutely amazing in their support of the show, and we hope they’ll enjoy the conclusion of Charlotte and Georgiana’s stories.”
In fact, in an interview following the season finale airing in the US with Salon, head writer Justin Young was even more emphatic that this was the end, saying: “Let me emphasise [season 4 is] never going to happen.
“Throughout the whole process, there were a lot of notes for a long time about make sure you leave some strands open and make sure you don’t close everything off for season 4. After we finished writing season 3, we thought actually ‘No, this is it’. We were done. And I’m glad of that.
“I think it would have been diminishing returns. Knowing that it’s now this triptych is quite pleasing. It’s self-contained and exists.”
What have the Sanditon cast said about the series ending?
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Speaking with Masterpiece Studio podcast, Rose Williams who plays Charlotte Heywood was asked whether she was satisfied with her character’s arc and end point, to which she said she was.
She explained: “It’s kind of been so amazing to have the gift of playing a woman navigating through a society that kind of was structured for her not to find her voice and discover herself in the way that she managed to kind of do I think. So, yes, is the answer.”
Meanwhile on the same podcast, Crystal Clarke, who plays Georgiana, was asked what it felt like to say goodbye to her character.
She said: “I feel very appreciative. I feel appreciative of the fans. I feel appreciative of where Georgiana’s story has gone. It’s such a bittersweet thing. It’s also just kind of like, it came out of nowhere. Because I already thought it was over, and then bam, we were back again. So I was just kind of like, I don’t know, I wasn’t expecting it. But I feel very grateful for the experience.”
She continued: “There was a card that people made for me right before I was coming back for season 2 and 3, and that just meant so much to know that there were people that supported me and understood that it wasn’t an easy decision for me to make, or the easiest of positions to be in.
“And so I feel very grateful for this experience. I’ve learned a lot as Georgiana, a lot, for myself included.”
Sanditon is available to watch now on BritBox – you can sign up to BritBox with a 7-day free trial here.
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