Sex Education season 3: Release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know
Sex Education spoilers below.
Netflix has confirmed that Sex Education will return for season three. This should come as no surprise after the comedy-drama made the streaming platform’s top-ten most popular series of 2019, both in the UK and US.
The announcement was made by none other than Headmaster Groff (Alistair Petrie), which you can see down below.
Before season three was confirmed, the show’s creator and writer Laurie Nunn revealed that she had already started working on the next chapter (via LadBible): “I’ve started writing series three, but that’s just a very normal part of the process because we work on such tight schedule, and season three hasn’t been greenlit yet or officially commissioned.
“I think when you’re working on something and you’re so close to it, you really can’t see the woods through the trees anymore. It was a wonderful surprise, but I really didn’t see it coming. In a lot of ways, I just feel like I live in that teenage world.
“At this stage, I don’t really have time to take anything else on, but I am getting more offers and really fantastic opportunities coming my way. A few years ago I didn’t think that was going to happen at all.”
Before the official renewal, Ncuti Gatwa, who plays Eric, also hinted to Digital Spy and other press that the cast are contracted for a third season, which makes perfect sense because there is A LOT of unfinished business following that season two finale.
Here’s everything you need to know about Sex Education season three.
Sex Education season 3 release date: When will it air?
Both seasons one and two premiered in January (2019 and 2020 respectively), so we’d expect the next chapter to arrive in January 2021.
Sex Education season 3 cast: Who’s in it?
In the season three announcement video, the following familiar faces all popped up, which we fully expected given how integral they are to the series: Otis (Asa Butterfield), Jean (Gillian Anderson), Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), Maeve (Emma Mackey), Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood), Adam (Connor Swindells), Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling), Ola (Patricia Allison), Lily (Tanya Reynolds), and Headmaster Groff (Alistair Petrie).
We’d also expect to see Olivia (Simone Ashley), Ruby (Mimi Keene) and Anwar (Chaneil Kular) – aka The Untouchables – Aimee’s boyfriend Steve (Chris Jenks), Miss Sands (Rakhee Thakrar), Mr Hendricks (Jim Howick), Jakob (Mikael Persbrandt), Adam’s mum Maureen (Samantha Spiro), Jackson’s mums Sofia (Hannah Waddingham) and Roz (Sharon Duncan-Brewster), and Remi (James Purefoy), among others.
Season two also added three new cast members: Eric’s ex-boyfriend Rahim (Sami Outalbali), super smart Viv (Chinenye Ezeudu) and Maeve’s new neighbour Isaac (George Robinson).
But whether we’ll see Anne-Marie Duff back as Maeve’s mum Erin remains to be seen. They didn’t exactly part on good terms.
Maeve’s brother Sean (Edward Bluemel) rocked up in season one, but we haven’t seen him since. Could he feature?
Sex Education season 3 plot: What will happen?
Laurie Nunn is the master of juggling multiple characters and their individual storylines, charting their wins (big and small), and their struggles and anxieties, all of which will need to be further tackled in season three.
Ola and Otis called it a day, Ola moving on with Lily and Otis leaving that voicemail on Maeve’s phone.
“It’s you,” he said. “It’s always been you. I love you.”
But Isaac, who has also taken a shine to Maeve, threw a spanner in the works when he deleted Otis’s declaration of love.
Dun-dun-dunnn
Director Ben Taylor did later reveal that he had shot an alternative ending, which would have given the fans what they wanted.
“I shot a thing just to see,” he told BT TV. “Just to be naughty because occasionally I can be.”
It played out like this: “Otis, act like you’ve just seen Maeve. Maeve, act like you’ve just seen Otis,” adding that both characters had big smiles on their faces. Happily ever after. The end.
But Taylor did go on to say that he was happy with the way season two played out.
“I think shoes will be thrown at screens – in a good way,” he said. “I love being pissed off at stuff. You think you want it, but you don’t.
“I think about it all the time, because you want [the show] to be satisfying and nourishing and all the right things. They don’t get it [in the ending], but five minutes before on screen, Eric gets a moment with Adam which for me is one of the greatest romantic gestures.
“[Eric and Adam] get it. They get their moment. But if you go around and give everyone their moment it may get a bit sugary.
“The people that were the most pissed off were Emma and Asa… they just really want the closure for their characters. But you’re not going to get that yet.”
Season three will probably kick off with Otis thinking that Maeve wants nothing to do with him after his outburst at the house party. And given how socially awkward he is, we doubt he’ll build up the courage to ask her what’s going on, certainly not for the first couple of episodes at least.
Maeve also has other, more pressing concerns on her mind – she rang social services after she found out that her mum had started using drugs again, concerned for the welfare of her half-sister.
She apologised to Erin, but Nunn left them on bad terms.
Eric chose Adam over Rahim, but while young Groff is on the path to becoming a better man, he still has a lot of work to do. Expect plenty of fireworks.
Aimee had a traumatic ordeal as she was sexually assaulted on the bus to school. With the help of Maeve and the other girls in detention, she eventually opened up about her ordeal and, while still shaken, was able to acknowledge what had happened to her, something she found difficult over the course of season two.
We’d expect that to be revisited in the next chapters
Jackson has finally started to open up about his mental health, ditching the pool and his strictly jock existence to become more of an everyman, pursuing a way of life that makes him happier. That resulted in the beginnings of a new friendship with Viv and him taking to the stage as Romeo in Lily’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. But what will he turn his hand to next?
And we also found out that Jean is pregnant with Jakob’s baby. The plumber called time on their relationship because he didn’t feel that she was ready for the commitment, but now everything has changed.
Speaking of Jean, Anderson recently revealed that the show’s writing didn’t grab her attention at first.
“I’m not really sure whether I thought,” she said on The One Show.
“When I first read it, I had not really responded to it. I’d kind of put it in the bin, and my partner suggested I take it out of the bin and look at it a bit more seriously.
“And actually when I did I found it incredibly hilarious, and kind of got what it was that they were after.”
She went on to say that “one of the most important elements of the series” is the way in which it opens up conversations about sex.
“To me that’s one of the most important elements of the series, that it has so much heart and that it deals with very, very challenging issues that teenagers and families go through,” she continued.
“So much of it is about communication. My character is awkward with the way she communicates or tries to communicate – she’s completely over the top and inappropriate, even though she’s a sex therapist.
“Her son is actually quite good at it and his modus operandi is to teach compassion, and forgiveness and communication and understanding – all things that are really wonderful to have in one’s life, but can be quite hard to practice.”
Writer Laurie Nunn has spoken about wanting to keep the Sex Education ball rolling beyond season three.
“I think these characters… they’ve got legs,” Nunn said (via THR). “I think I could do some more with them if we’re given the chance. [Netflix] is very supportive and really wanting us to tell the stories that we feel passionate about. It really feels like we’re all on the same page, wanting to make the same show.”
“I love writing these characters,” she added. “It’s such a big ensemble and I think the theme of the show – in terms of it being about sex and relationships – it really just offers up endless story opportunities.
“So I think the show definitely has legs if Netflix are nice enough to let me keep writing it and let Ben [Taylor] keep directing it!”
Just don’t expect the series to go on forever.
“I always feel that teen shows should maybe stop before university,” Nunn said. “Otherwise, you get to the point where people are 30 years old and they’re playing teenagers.”
But whatever happens in season three, expect more boundary-pushing plotlines handled with the utmost detail and care.
“The writers’ room, last year in particular, was a very queer space,” Nunn said (via THR). “So, it was a very open, free-flowing conversation with a lot of people speaking from experience. I think for me the most important person that we worked with is that we have a sex educator that feeds back on the script, making sure that the right information is in there and that we’re not putting anything in the show that could be potentially harmful.
“So yeah, just making sure that we’re getting across the right information and doing our research and then making sure it’s funny and human as well.”
Sex Education season 3 trailer: When will it arrive?
Trailers usually land in the month leading up to the premiere, so keep your eyes peeled towards the end of December 2020/early January 2021.
Sex Education seasons one and two are streaming now on Netflix.
Good