Stranger Things season 5 release schedule and runtimes: What time is the finale out?

It all comes down to this - we are now just hours away from the release of the Stranger Thing series finale.

The show's final ever episode comes just less than a week after season 5 volume 2 was released on Netflix, and a thrilling trailer has now been unveiled, teasing the battle ahead.

It looks to be an almighty showdown with Vecna, but creators Matt and Ross Duffer have reassured fans that there won't be a "Red Wedding situation" like in Game of Thrones, where many of their favourites perish.

Matt told The Hollywood Reporter: "I think some things happen in the finale that are very surprising, but we’re not trying to shock or upset anyone. I hope by the time people get to the end of the finale that it just feels like there’s something inevitable about what happens, and that it doesn’t feel painful but feels satisfying."

Beyond this, plot details about the finale have been kept tightly under wraps, but the Duffer Brothers did tell RadioTimes.com recently that "there's a sense of inevitability" about the ending of the series.

"When you're looking at shows that don't work, or the endings that don't work, it is when it feels like sometimes the shows are trying too hard to surprise fans or do something different," Matt said.

"So we want it to feel very much in line with the show and the endings for each of the characters to feel inevitable. That's what we're striving for."

If you're as excited as we are to find out how it all comes to a close, read on for everything you need to know about the Stranger Things season 5 release schedule, including all those lengthy runtimes, the finale's release time and its title.

Want more from Stranger Things? Check out our season 5 review, or delve into the epic soundtrack that we'll be bopping along to for weeks to come.

Stranger Things season 5 episode runtimes

The Duffer Brothers have officially revealed all of the runtimes for the episodes. All of the below are now confirmed:

Volume 1

• Chapter One: The Crawl - 1 hour and 8 minutes
• Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler - 54 minutes
• Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap - 1 hour and 6 minutes
• Chapter Four: Sorcerer - 1 hour and 23 minutes

Volume 2

• Chapter Five: Shock Jock - 1 hour and 8 minutes
• Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz - 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Chapter Seven: The Bridge - 1 hour and 6 minutes

The finale

• Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up - 2 hours and 8 minutes

Stranger Things season 5 release schedule

Stranger Things season 5 will be released in three parts. Volume 1 is out now and was released on 26th November (27th November in the UK due to time zones).

Volume 2 is also out, and was released on 25th December (26th December, Boxing Day in the UK).

The finale will be here on 31st December (1st January, New Year's Day in the UK).

That means the release schedule is as follows:

Volume 1

• Chapter One: The Crawl - 26th November (27th November in the UK) - out now
• Chapter Two: The Vanishing of... - 26th November (27th November in the UK) - out now
• Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap - 26th November (27th November in the UK) - out now
• Chapter Four: Sorcerer - 26th November (27th November in the UK) - out now

Volume 2

• Chapter Five: Shock Jock - 25th December (26th December in the UK) - out now
• Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz - 25th December (26th December in the UK) - out now
• Chapter Seven: The Bridge - 25th December (26th December in the UK) - out now

The Finale

• Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up - 31st December (1st January in the UK)

Stranger Things season 5 release time

Usually, Netflix releases arrive at 8am UK time, but Stranger Things season 5 will buck this trend, with episodes dropping at 1am GMT.

Here's what time that works out to some time zones around the world:

• 2am CET (Central Europe)
• 10am JST (Japan)
• 5pm PST (United States)
• 8pm EST (United States)
• 12pm AEDT (Australia)

Netflix also has a comprehensive list of when the episodes will be released depending on which country you're in.

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Stranger Thing season 5 will conclude on New Year's Day.

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