Succession creator makes major announcement about the future of the show

Stephen Porzio

Time is up for the Roys

The fourth season of comedy-drama Succession is set to hit UK screens next month – and the show’s creator Jesse Armstrong has confirmed that it will be the last one.

Since beginning in 2018, Succession has become one of the most critically-acclaimed shows of the recent years, hoovering up awards, garnering a huge fanbase, and being touted by many as one of the best TV shows of all time.

But despite the almost universal love for the show, Armstrong has officially revealed that the fourth season will be the last.

Speaking to the New Yorker, Armstrong opened up about deciding to end the show, stating: “I hope that no one ever thinks that we are outstaying our welcome, that we’re going to do a dud season, or be stretching it out.

“I hope those concerns never occur to people. I know they do when I’m watching other people’s shows, even ones I admire and like.”

The writer also told the outlet that he “never thought” the series could go on forever and that he has had ideas for an ending since season two.

He said: “I got together with a few of my fellow writers before we started the writing of season four, in about November, December, 2021, and I sort of said: ‘Look, I think this maybe should be it. But what do you think?’

“We played out various scenarios. We could do a couple of short seasons or two more seasons or we could go on for ages and turn the show into something rather different, and be a more rangy, freewheeling kind of fun show, where there would be good weeks and bad weeks.

“Or we could do something a bit more muscular and complete, and go out sort of strong. That was definitely always my preference… The decision to end solidified through the writing.”

Focusing on the dysfunctional, mean and sweary members of the uber-rich Roy family, Armstrong’s comments about the imminent conclusion of Succession feel bittersweet.

On one level, fans will miss the characters and their constant biting insults and scheming. On the other hand though, it is a positive that Armstrong has had an ending planned for years and that the series won’t be artificially dragging out its plot.

However, while Armstrong told the New Yorker that he thinks the “succession story” that he and his co-writers were telling is “complete”, he suggested that a spin-off of the show could happen someday.

“This is the muscular season to exhaust all our reserves of interest… But the feeling that there could be something else in an allied world, or allied characters or some of the same characters, that’s also strong in me,” he explained.

“I have caveated the end of the show, when I’ve talked to some of my collaborators. Like maybe there’s another part of this world we could come back to if there was an appetite. Maybe there’s something else that could be done, that harnessed what’s been good about the way we’ve worked on this. So that is another true feeling.”

You can watch Succession season four weekly on Sky Atlantic or with a NOW Entertainment Membership from Monday, 27 March. You can check out the trailer for the fourth and final season below.

In the meantime, check out our interview with the backstabber himself Tom (Matthew Macfayden), about some of the highlights of the show so far and what he thinks really lies in the future for his character: