What is the Sex Education season 4 release date? It’s been a while since we last caught up with our favourite sex-crazed teens and their just-as-chaotic teachers and parents, and with season 3 of Sex Education ending with more than one big twist, we can hardly wait to see where the original Netflix series will go next.
Although the premise of Sex Education has evolved since its first season, the TV series essentially centres around Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), who, having inherited his mother’s talent for sex therapy, teams up with school misfit Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) to open an underground sex education clinic at their school, Moordale.
Over the last three seasons, as Otis’ and Maeve’s peers continued to explore their sexuality, Moordale became known as the notorious “sex school,” leading to both the unofficial clinic and, ultimately, Moordale itself shutting their doors by the end of Sex Education season 3. With no Moordale, we’re all anxious to know what’s next for Otis, Maeve, and their peers, so here’s everything we know about the Sex Education season 4 release date, plot, and more.
Sex Education season 4 release date speculation
Although a Sex Education season 4 release date hasn’t been confirmed, all signs are pointing towards an Autumn 2023 premiere.
The official Sex Education Twitter account confirmed that a fourth season was coming shortly after its third season was released in September of that year. Prior to season 3, which faced filming and production delays due to the pandemic, Sex Education took the January release date slot, which was moved again.
Given that filming for season 4 only started in July 2022, it seems highly unlikely that Sex Education season 4 will have a release date in mid-2023. But at the same time, as a Netflix series with no VFX, we doubt post-production would be particularly long-winded, setting the stage for Sex Education to return to the streaming service sooner than we’d expect.
Sex Education season 4 cast speculation
Although we can expect a lot of our favourites to be back, including Asa Butterfield (Otis), Gillian Anderson (Jean), Aimee Lou Wood (Aimee), Connor Swindells (Adam), Kedar Williams-Stirling (Jackson), and more, the Sex Education season 4 cast will also be introducing a few new faces, while other actors in the series go on to pastures new.
Simone Ashley, for instance, will not be returning as Ruby’s sidekick Olivia because she’ll be reprising her role as Kate in Bridgerton season 3, while Rakhee Thakrar (Emily Sands), Tanya Reynolds (Lily), and Patricia Allison (Ola) also confirmed that they would not be returning. Fortunately, despite Ncuti Gatwa being cast as The Doctor in Doctor Who, he confirmed that he will be returning for season 4. It will, however, be his last season on the show.
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Schitt’s Creek Dan Levy is also confirmed to have joined the cast as US professor and author Thomas Molloy, along with a slew of other new characters whose roles haven’t yet been revealed. New cast members include Thaddea Graham, Marie Reuther, Felix Mufti, Anthony Lexa, Alexandra James, Reda Elazouar, Bella Maclean, and Imani Yahshua.
On top of all this, it’s also since been confirmed that Jodie Turner-Smith will be joining the Sex Education season 4 cast, with the star revealing [via Variety] that a certain favourite current cast member brought her on board.
“You may or may not see me in a little Netflix show called Sex Education,” Turner-Smith says. “First of all all my scenes were with Ncuti Gatwa who – I die for him – and he’s my favourite character on the show,” she continued. “So when he called me and asked me to do it I was like, I don’t care how much they’re paying I’m doing.”
Based on a recent casting call, we can also expect two new characters in season 4 — transgender woman Abbi, who gives “Winona Ryder” vibes and her transmasculine boyfriend, Kent. With filming already in progress, we imagine that those playing Abbi and Kent will have already been decided. We will keep you informed.
Who’s in the Sex Education season 4 cast?
- Asa Butterfield as Otis Milburn
- Gillian Anderson as Jean Milburn
- Emma Mackey as Maeve Wiley
- Ncuti Gatwa as Eric Effiong
- Connor Swindells as Adam Groff
- Kedar Williams-Stirling as Jackson Marchetti
- Aimee Lou Wood as Aimee Gibbs
- Mikael Persbrandt as Jakob Nyman
- Mimi Keene as Ruby Matthews
- Chinenye Ezeudu as Viv Odusanya
- Sami Outalbali as Rahim
- Dua Saleh as Cal Bowman
- Chaneil Kular as Anwar
- Dan Levy as Thomas Molloy
- Thaddea Graham in an unknown role
- Marie Reutherin an unknown role
- Felix Muftiin an unknown role
- Anthony Lexain an unknown role
- Alexandra James in an unknown role
- Reda Elazouarin an unknown role
- Bella Maclean in an unknown role
- Imani Yahshua in an unknown role
- Jodie Turner-Smith in an unknown role
Sex Education season 4 plot speculation
Even though the end of season 3 saw the end of Moordale — with all the students likely to be separated at different schools to finish their A-Levels — there is a lot of scope as to where the Sex Education season 4 plot could go.
Here’s the official synopsis for Sex Education season 4:
“Following the closure of Moordale Secondary, Otis and Eric now face a new frontier – their first day at Cavendish Sixth Form College. Otis is nervous about setting up his new clinic, whilst Eric is praying they won’t be losers again.But Cavendish is a culture shock for all the Moordale students – they thought they were progressive but this new college is another level. There’s daily yoga in the communal garden, a strong sustainability vibe and a group of kids who are popular for being… kind?!
Viv is totally thrown by the college’s student-led, non-competitive approach, while Jackson is still struggling to get over Cal. Aimee tries something new by taking an Art A Level and Adam grapples with whether mainstream education is for him. Over in the US, Maeve is living her dream at prestigious Wallace University, being taught by cult author Thomas Molloy. Otis is pining after her, whilst adjusting to not being an only child at home, or the only therapist on campus…”
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Although Maeve and Otis finally decided to give things a go at the end of season 3, she jetted off to America soon after. We have no doubt Maeve will return eventually, but with Maeve actor Emma Mackey working on the Barbie movie, it seems likely she’ll be off-screen for at least some of the season. So, expect to see how Otis deals with her absence and whether they will end up in another “will they/won’t they” drama by the time she gets back.
Another person who will undoubtedly be affected by Maeve’s absence is best friend, Aimee. After turning her back on toxic friend group ‘The Untouchables’, she also ended up breaking things off with boyfriend Steve at the end of season 3 as she continues to come to terms with her sexual assault. If we had to guess, we imagine season 4 would continue to show her processing her trauma and learning to be alone for the first time without a boyfriend to fall back on.
We also saw Adam Groff have his heart broken by Eric at the end of season 3, with Adam still having a long way to go in terms of figuring out his sexuality while Eric says he is “ready to fly.” Fortunately, it looks like he has a shoulder to cry on with Rahim, another one of Eric’s exes with whom he started a tentative friendship with by the end of season 3. Will it turn into something more?
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And finally, there’s Jean, Otis’ mother and famed sex therapist. After a rocky pregnancy, she finally gave birth to her child at the end of season 3 — only to discover, by the looks of it, that the father of her second child isn’t partner, Jakob, but someone else. We don’t know for sure what the DNA test said, or even if it proved her partner wasn’t the father, but saying “oh shit” at the DNA test results of your child is never a good sign.
Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of Sex Education are available to stream on Netflix. For more releases, here are all the new movies heading our way in 2023.
