Image Source: Netflix
Fortunately for fans of Netflix’s “Sex Education,” the fourth season is on its way – though the cast won’t be exactly the same. Specifically, Patricia Allison won’t be returning to reprise her role as Ola Nyman on the show. The reason for that appears to be the fact that Allison wants to focus on new opportunities, which include starring roles in the film “Paradise” and the action-adventure-comedy series “Extraordinary.”
“I absolutely have loved being on ‘Sex Education’ so, so much . . . but unfortunately, I won’t be joining the team for season four,” she said in an interview with UK radio show Breakfast With Yinka and Shayna Marie on July 5. “Some other opportunities have come up. I’ve been doing it for three years, and I’ve genuinely loved it.” Allison’s character Ola was a love interest for protagonist Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) until they discovered they were sexually incompatible, and Ola’s relationship with Tanya Reynolds’s character Lily Iglehart was a major highlight of the second and third seasons.
On Sept. 26, 2021, Netflix officially confirmed that “Sex Education” had been renewed for a fourth season after a long wait. The first two seasons premiered only one year apart, whereas viewers waited around 21 months for the third season due to filming delays caused by the pandemic. In the third season, Moordale High School suffered through the presence of a new headmistress who enforced strict protocols that removed the sex-positive environment that had previously existed on campus.
The fourth season is expected to begin filming sometime during the summer of 2022, meaning it likely won’t premiere until 2023. In the meantime, some the show’s principal cast members are going to be quite busy. “Sex Education” stars Emma Mackey and Ncuti Gatwa will appear in Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming “Barbie” movie, which stars Margot Robbie, and Gatwa will also appear as The Doctor in the next season of “Doctor Who.”