What's does the future hold for Catastrophe after that dramatic series three finale?
Tuesday night saw season 3 of the Channel 4 comedy come to a screeching climax. A fourth series is guaranteed – but after that the future is less certain...
In true Catastrophe style, the third series of the Channel 4 comedy came to an end on Tuesday night with a dramatic cliffhanger. SPOILERS to follow.
Rob Delaney’s character Rob had gone to pick up his drunk wife Sharon (Sharon Horgan) – while he was secretly drunk himself.
Yes, the recovering alcoholic has been on the booze all series, unbeknownst to his wife. But after Sharon called him to pick her up (she didn’t fancy a cab), she tottered out of the car to pick up a takeaway meal, leaving Rob to find a parking space. He drove his car through a light, and was hit side-on.
As Sharon rushed to her bruised and bloodied husband in the car, he told her: “Are the police coming? They are going to give me a breathalyser… I’m not going to pass it. I’m sorry.” Roll credits.
So, where next?
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Clearly Rob will have some serious questions to answer - either to the police or his wife. But the audience may have a bit of a wait to find out how he does it.
Channel 4 has already commissioned a fourth series, but the writers and stars tell RadioTimes.com that they have not even begun to think about the direction of the next series.
“We’ve not set a date yet for series four and we will write it in the next few months I expect," says Delaney, who admitted that they wanted to take some breathing space from the show.
However there could be an even longer wait before a fifth series is made – if at all.
“We sort of think of our spiritual forbear as the Before Sunrise, Before Sunset films,” he says of their long-term plans, referring to the two films starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. “They rather beautifully dip in once every ten years on this couple, and that’s an amazing way to tell a story. That’s not out of the question; [it] wouldn’t be a crazy way to do it.”
So could an extended gap mean we eventually see Sharon and Rob bickering as elderly residents of a care home?
“That’s not out of the question, it’s a very funny idea," said Delaney.
However, Horgan added that she is reluctant to portray the couple with older children.
“We would have to be estranged from our kids to go down that route. That gives me the heebies,” she said. “We’re not teenagers and the only teenagers' problems are my own daughter's and I am not going to put her life on screen.”
So could series four be the last?
Very possibly.
According to Channel 4 sources, the broadcaster expected a much longer wait before a fifth series was even considered, in part because both Delaney and Horgan are so busy.
"We are not expecting to commission a fifth series," said one source. "At least not for a long time."
