New episodes *just* landed on Netflix but ‘Sex Education’ season 4 has already been confirmed

It feels like all we talk about these days is Sex Education… not that we’re complaining or anything. Between season three landing on Netflix two weeks ago and now news that a fourth season has already been confirmed, there’s much to discuss. 

While few details have been revealed about what’s in the pipeline for future episodes, we do have a little insider intel about season four so here’s what we know so far. 

Centred on main character Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his sex therapist mother Jean (played by Gillian Anderson who is as radiant as ever), the socially awkward teen teams up with a classmate to run his own underground sex therapy clinic at school. 

Charting its way to the top of Netflix’s must-watch list, over 40 million viewers streamed the first season after its debut. Two more seasons followed shortly after and the countdown is now on for a fourth. 

*Spoilers ahead*

Cast 

Nothing is for definite just yet but even before season four was officially confirmed, the cast had already expressed interest at continuing their character’s stories… so we’re taking that as a good indication that most of the usual suspects will return. 

In fact, Butterfield previously told Cosmopolitan UK that he’d even be up for a Sex Education film! “[I want a] Christmas movie. Sex Education-themed” he said in an interview. Pushed to reveal whether more episodes were on the cards, the actor remained tight-lipped at the time, claiming that it was out of his hands and that he “genuinely” didn’t know what the plan was. Yeah, yeah, Asa. 

“I’d love to do a fourth season, because we have so much fun on this show,” he admitted, before later adding, “we’ll have to wait and see”. Butterfield’s co-star Emma Mackey (Maeve), also previously discussed whether she’d be interested in a fourth season. Speaking to Elle about all the things she’d love to see her character experience, Mackey said, “It’d be really nice to see her actually living out a dream for herself. What does that do to a person, and how does that change you? What kind of happiness does that give you? And all the anxieties that come with being away from home.” 

No episode of Sex Education would be complete without Gillian Anderson either and her recent Instagram posts pretty much confirm she’ll be back for the new season. Posting a group selfie from set, she captioned it, “I guess we’ll be seeing you for S4!!” Accompanied by three aubergine emojis for good measure. A subsequent post showed Anderson’s character in bed with Mikael Persbrandt who plays Jacob on the show.  

Ncuti Gatwa, Aimee Lou Wood and Alistair Petrie all returned for season three alongside a few other faces, including Girls star Jemima Kirke, Dua Saleh and Jason Isaacs (aka Lucius Malfoy), so here’s hoping they reprise their roles for season four too. 

A stellar cast I think you’ll agree.

Plot

Not to give too much away, but season three ended with quite a big question mark hanging over it so season four will presumably try to tie up a few of those loose ends for viewers. No doubt we can also expect more on the whole Maeve and Otis will they/won’t they romance too. 

Most of the cast still have to finish out their final term at Moordale before heading to university (if that’s on the cards for them), so it’s probably safe to say that much of the action will take place there again. It’s all hearsay at this point though. 

Release date 

No release date has officially been announced, but it’s likely to be sometime in 2022. So far, fans have been treated to one season a year since the show first aired back in January 2019 – season two premiered in January 2020, while season three was slightly delayed due to the pandemic and aired in September this year. We’d love to put January 2022 in as a provisional date but that’s probably not realistic given that the original timeline has been skewed.  No release date and sadly no trailer (or teaser) yet either but that just means that we have plenty still to look forward to. 

If you haven’t watched the first three seasons of Sex Education yet, then you have plenty of time to fix that before season four comes out… be warned though, it’s so good that you’ll want to watch it all in one sitting. Better cancel all other plans this week in preparation. 

Feature image Sam Taylor/Netflix