Will There Be An 'Unforgotten' Season 5?

Unforgotten's Season 4 ended with a shocker close. Despite all the optimistic prognoses in the episode's opening minutes about Cassie Stuart's condition after her car wreck, things went south. The bleed on the brain was more extensive than doctors thought, and the chances for recovery went from highly likely to none in the space of 44 minutes. The final moments of the season were dedicated to her funeral, burying the show's leading character and leaving her division without a DCI and the show without its heart.

But that's not the end of Unforgotten, as highly likely as one might think it would be. Even before the fourth season debuted here on Masterpiece, ITV had already greenlit another season, with official confirmation coming back at the end of March 2021. In July, creator Chris Lange tweeted that he was already hard at work on a new set of scripts, and production for the new set of episodes is expected to commence soon. That being said, most seasons of Unforgotten take about 18 months between releases, so fans probably won't see new episodes until 2023.

After the season finale aired in the U.K., Lang revealed that he and actor Nicola Walker had discussed this development since 2018's Season 3. He called it "a mutual decision that her story would probably come to an end by the end of season four," with no plan to make it so she could return. With her exit, fans are guessing that most of her family, including Cassie's dad Martin (Peter Egan), her son Adam (Jassa Ahluwalia), and her partner John (Alastair Mackenzie), will also follow her out the door. (Though John, having taken a new job at a different precinct, could make a guest appearance.)