Get Ready For The Final Season
Get ready for one final season of shenanigans, adventure, laughter and love with The Durrells in Corfu. Revisit where we left off last season, read what the actors have to say about the upcoming season, and prepare to say goodbye to the lovable Durrell family.
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Where We Left Off
The end of Season 3 was marked by a circus coming to town, a despondent sloth, and just a few heartbreaks for the usually upbeat and quirky Durrell family. Click through our slideshow for a reminder of where each character left off!
Louisa
Louisa and Spiro lost their chance to be something more nearly as soon as they’d gotten it. After an almost-kiss at the circus and an episode chock full of sweet moments, Spiro comes to tell her that his wife has returned to the island. Louisa allows herself just a moment to mourn what she almost had, before she steps in to take care of the onslaught of travelers that have shown up at their doorstep, thanks to Larry.
Larry
Larry was, luckily, spared from any major heartache. Though, he was indeed disappointed to see his contortionist friend Elena leave once the circus moved on from Corfu.
Leslie
Leslie’s heart was crushed to pieces by Daphne at the end of the season. He learned that he is not the father of her child, and that she had been lying to him all along. Even still, he realizes that he cares for her and the baby, and still offers to marry her and claim the baby as his own. Just as he gets his hopes up, she informs him that the father has returned, and she’ll be marrying him instead.
Margo
After her jaw dropping circus performance, Margo and Zoltan’s relationship also came to an end. Zoltan’s father ordered him back home to Turkey to help with the family business, leaving Margo’s heart in shambles. (And yet, we’ll never forget the model Durrell home he built for her, with a small doll of himself, so she’ll always have a piece of him left!) Margo being Margo, of course, took it in stride, not allowing herself to wallow. She’s come so far!
Gerry
Gerry’s heart luckily remained unscathed, with his relationship with Galini still in tact at the end of the season. His focus was instead on the despondent sloth, Frank. Gerry finally decided to send back to his home in the wild, rather than keeping him cooped up in the house any longer.
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Where We Pick Up
The fourth and final season picks up in the spring of 1939, nearing ever closer to World War II, and yet, the island has yet to be touched by it. The story continues right where it left off at the end of last season – with Louisa now running the house as a boarding house, which is both successful and stressful. “As expected with The Durrells, making the house an open house leads to absolute carnage,” Josh O’Connor (Larry) teased.
But while the war may be just on the horizon, it certainly doesn’t become the story, which O’Connor finds to be one of the strengths of the show. “What’s so touching about The Durrells and why it’s such a unique show is that it’s set in a period where we’re used to the war being the most present topic in any drama, but for the family it’s not,” he said. “They’re in their own world and have their issues: Gerry has started a zoo, there are animals living in the house, Leslie is shooting things and Larry has two girlfriends at one time.”
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What To Expect in Season 4, According to the Stars
Larry: After some successfully published articles about his family’s adventures in Corfu, Larry is ready to spread his wings – again – and write his next novel. “This series, we see Larry move to the other side of the island which is very much an attempt to get out of the family home and find his own way,” O’Connor said.
Leslie: “I absolutely love where we find Leslie this series,” said Callum Woodhouse, who plays the second eldest Durrell. “He’s decided he can’t deal with the high levels of emotion he has to handle last series, so has sort of regressed back to his more basic self. We see him exactly how he was in the first series – loving his guns and going hunting – but with all of the weight of what’s happened behind him.”
Margo: The lone sister of the family, on the other hand, is moving forward after her break-up last season. “At the beginning of the new series, we find Margo feeling a bit lost and not particularly happy. She feels like she’s outgrown her family a bit and isn’t sure what to do with herself,” said Daisy Waterstone, who plays Margo. “She does start her own beauty salon – it’s more just a corner of the living room but for Margo, it’s a salon!”
Gerry: The youngest Durrell is, as always, focusing on all of his animals, but he’s no longer the little boy we first met in Season 1. “At the beginning of the series, we find Gerry as ever trying to expand his collection of animals and continuing his interest in conservation,” said Milo Parker, who plays Gerry. “He’s now a lot more grown up than he was before – he’s got a lot taller and his voice has got deeper. I think he also continues to be quite frustrated by still being viewed as the child of the family so we see a more maturing side of Gerry.”
Louisa: Meanwhile, despite the dashed romance at the end of Season 3 (and Louisa’s subsequent heartbreak), Spiro is certainly not out of the Durrells’ lives for good, however hard that may be for Louisa, at times. “Louisa is trying to get over Spiro,” said Keeley Hawes, who plays Durrell matriarch Louisa. “She is trying to be grown up about that and get on with her life. It’s a matter of self-preservation for both of them to keep apart. It’s a tantalizing storyline.”
And while the Durrell brood have mostly grown up and are testing their wings to find their own paths in life, they’re still a family unit – nothing ever seems to change that . “There’s a sense this series of the children all coming back to where they should be,” Hawes continued. “To where they belong. Which is what happens in life. Your children go off because they have to and you need them to. But also wherever Louisa is, that’s their home. Wherever your parents are should be your home. That’s where home will be. … It’s wherever she is.”
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Getting Ready To Say Goodbye
One thing is for sure: saying goodbye will not be easy.
“I know it’s cliché to say, but Corfu really does feel like a second home,” said Callum Woodhouse. “It was tough and a weird experience returning for the last time and there was a definitely feeling on set of it being the final one. We all just tried to cherish it a bit more.”
“I cried when I read the final script. I think it was the last few pages where I suddenly realised that this was the last time I was ever going to read a The Durrells script. It was very moving and made me reminiscent about all of the years we’ve spent in Corfu working on the show,” said Daisy Waterstone. “It made me realize how much we’ve achieved in the past four years and how much its impacted my life in a huge way. It’s definitely changed my life and made me more confident. In fact, Margo herself has made me more confident as a person. She’s brought me out of my shell, which is lovely.”
Our advice: have some tissues at the ready.
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When It Premieres, And How To Watch It
The final season premieres Sunday, September 29 at 8/7c on MASTERPIECE, airing just before the final season premiere of Poldark.
Can’t wait for Sunday nights? Binge the entire season on PBS Passport, an added member benefit, starting the night of the premiere at 8pm Eastern Time.
