Everything to Know About the Final Season
From the new faces to where the original characters left off at the end of season three, Netflix’s hit dramedy ahead of its final run
In July, Netflix announced that Sex Education‘s fourth season would be its last.
The end of season three saw Moordale Secondary closing after the school’s acapella group and swing band performed “Fuck the Pain Away,” causing the school’s investors to withdraw all of their funding.
As a result, the students need to find new schools, which leads the show’s lovable characters to Cavendish.
The fourth and final season of the hit dramedy picks up a few months after the end of the previous installment, as Otis (Asa Butterfield), Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), Aimee (Aimee-Lou Wood), Ruby (Mimi Keene), Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling), Viv (Chinenye Ezeudu) and Cal (Dua Saleh) begin a new chapter at a new school.
Meanwhile, Maeve (Emma Mackey) is off studying in America under esteemed author Thomas Molloy, played by Emmy winner Dan Levy; Jean (Gillian Anderson) is adjusting to having a new baby around; and Adam (Connor Swindells) is exploring options outside of typical school.
The final season will introduce new faces, including Felix Mufti, Anthony Lexa, Alexandra James, Reda Elazouar, Bella Maclean and Imani Yahshua, as well as Hannah Gadsby, Thaddea Graham, Lisa McGrillis, Marie Reuther, Jodie Turner-Smith and Eshaan Akbar.
The news that Sex Education would not be returning for a fifth season came on the heels of a few cast members — like Gatwa and Mackey, who co-starred in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie — announcing they were ready to move on from the show and explore other roles.
Sex Education will return for its fourth and final season on September 21, when all 8 episodes drop on Netflix.
This season will be the last installment centering on Otis, Maeve, Eric and their Moordale peers, as creator Laurie Nunn explained in heartfelt note announcing the end of the series that she is taking a break from the world she created and thinking about other things. However, she’s not opposed to returning in some way, shape or form down the line.
“Moordale is a really rich world, and writing about teenagers is always a lot of fun,” she told Netflix’s Tudum. “So, I think that there’s always potential for more to be explored in that world.”
Who’s Who in the Cast?
Fans of the Netflix series will be happy to see the return of several of their favorite characters — in addition to some new faces.
Returning castmembers include Asa Butterfield (Otis), Gillian Anderson (Jean), Ncuti Gatwa (Eric), Aimee-Lou Wood (Aimee), Emma Mackey (Maeve), Connor Swindells (Adam), Kedar Williams-Stirling (Jackson), Mimi Keene (Ruby), George Robinson (Isaac), Chinenye Ezeudu (Vivienne), Dua Saleh (Cal), Alistair Petrie (Michael) and Samantha Spiro (Maureen).
Some of the biggest names joining the cast for its final outing are Dan Levy–making his return to TV since the Emmy-winning final run of Schitt’s Creek–and Queen & Slim‘s Jodie Turner-Smith.
Other new faces include Hannah Gadsby, Thaddea Graham, Marie Reuther, Felix Mufti, Anthony Lexa, Alexandra James, Imani Yahshua, Lisa McGrillis, Reda Elazouar and Bella Maclean.
And a few familiar characters will not be attending Cavendish Sixth Form College alongside their fellow students. Ahead of the final season, Patricia Allison (Ola), Tanya Reynolds (Lily) and Simone Ashley (Olivia) announced their time on the show was over.
“It’s just the natural progression of these shows,” Reynolds told RadioTimes of leaving the show. “When you have such big ensemble casts and so many characters, I think you have to let a few older characters go to make way for newer ones, which is absolutely the right thing, the way it should happen.”
Allison explained that her departure from the show was due to scheduling conflicts. “I absolutely have loved being on Sex Education so, so much, and playing Ola,” she said on Capital Xtra’s breakfast show in July. “But unfortunately, I won’t be joining the team for season four.”
