Virgin River. (L to R) Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe, Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan in episode 602 of Virgin River. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
It’s true: Mel and Jack will be back for a seventh season, putting the show on par with some of the longest-running scripted adult Netflix Originals of all time.
News of a Virgin River season 7 renewal won’t come as a major surprise to many in the Virgin River fanbase. Over the summer, after season 6 had wrapped, numerous people on the production team teased they’d be returning for a seventh season at some point on social media, and a writer’s room for season 7 has also been active for quite some time now.
Then, to avoid any shadow of a doubt of renewal, Tim Matheson (who plays Doc Mullins) took to Instagram last week in a hastily deleted video that confirms more is on the way:
“Hey, Doc Mullins here. Season 6 of Virgin River drops December 19th. Oh, we got some more news too.
We got picked up for season 7 here on Netflix. I can’t say anything more about that. Why not go back and watch seasons 1 through 5 to get ready? I know I will.
We can’t wait to see your reaction to season 6. You are going to love it. Tighten your seatbelt. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
Patrick Sean Smith, who took over the showrunning reins from Sue Tenney in season 5, is expected to return for showrunning duties for season 7. Other team members like Erin Cardillo, Richard Keith, Jackson Sinder, Thomas Griffith, Ildiko Susany, Tesia Joy Walker, Mary Keller, and Becky Edwards are all expected to remain active on the show’s writing team. There is no word on any production dates just yet, but we suspect it won’t now be until early 2025, with the show returning to its filming home of British Columbia with filming locations in Vancouver, New Westminster, Squamish, Maple Ridge, Burnaby, and Langley.
The renewal isn’t a huge surprise as the show, while showing some signs of declining viewership season over season, still remains a bankable show. You can dive into all the viewership stats we have for Virgin River in our special site area, but we’ve also put a chart of seasons 3-5 viewership evolution. We should caveat that Season 5 saw a boost in viewership during its run because of the release of the Christmas episodes.
We hear there are plans to announce a seventh season publicly imminently. However, after numerous good-faith exchanges over the past few months, we’ve not been privy to additional information or timings.
Of course, there’s still more news needed for Virgin River’s future. As you may be aware, Netflix is doing a backdoor pilot for its next season of the show in episode 2. It’ll be rewinding the clock back to the 1970s, giving us an insight into the origin story of Mel’s parents: Sarah Jensen, who died when Mel was young, and Everett Reed.
Netflix revealed the teaser trailer and poster for season 6 last week, and more is expected to be unveiled before the release of all ten episodes on December 19th, 2024.
As mentioned, the show is now on par with Orange is the New Black and Grace & Frankie, which each ran for seven seasons. The Spanish series Elite is the only Netflix Original scripted title that’s gotten to season 8, so with any luck, fans will keep turning out for another renewal. Only a few documentary series and children’s titles have exceeded that feat.
We’ll keep you posted on any additional information when we get it.
Are you glad Virgin River is coming back for a season 7? Let us know in the comments down below.
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