HBO series Succession will come to an end after the upcoming fourth series airs.
The show's creator Jesse Armstrong says the next ten episodes will be the last viewers see of the Roy family - admitting he never thought the series 'would go on forever'.
Armstrong explains how he decided it was time to wrap things up and write a conclusion to the complicated drama surrounding a media dynasty, and admits he felt 'a bit tortured' during the process of officially ending things.
Succession centres around the Roy family, the owners a global media and entertainment conglomerate, who are fighting for control of the company amid uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch, Logan Roy ( Brian Cox ).
The show, which has won numerous awards and accolades since premiering in June 2018, is set to return next month with its fourth and final season.
Discussing what made him decide it was time to end Succession, creator Armstrong recalls: "It’s been a bit tortured, and I felt unexpectedly nervous about talking to you, because it’s all theoretical until this point, and I have tried to keep it theoretical for a whole number of reasons.
"Who knows about the psychological reasons, but the creative ones were that it felt really useful to not make the final, final decision for ages."
He goes on to tell The New Yorker how the has "always been kind of present in my mind" and since season two he's been wondering if it was time to call it a day.
Armstrong continues to reveal how he got together with a few of his fellow-writers in December 2021, before work began on season four, and mused how the upcoming series should be the final one.
He recalls playing out various scenarios with his collaborators - including an option to do a couple more short seasons or perhaps "turn the show into something rather different, and be a more rangy, freewheeling kind of fun show, where there would be good weeks and bad week."
But ultimately Armstrong and his fellow writers opted to "go out sort of strong" and decided season four will be the final offering from the Roy family and their woes.
The fourth and final season of Succession will air weekly on Sky Atlantic with NOW from Monday 27 March. It will consist of 10 episodes.
Succession picked up a number of honours at the Emmy Awards last year - with Armstrong making a cheeky joke about the British Royal Family as he collected the gong for Best Drama.
As Armstrong and the cast of Succession accepted their Emmy on stage just days on from the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he referenced the recent news in his home country, telling the star-studded audience: "Big week for Succession. New king in the UK this week for us. Evidently a little more voting involved in our winning than Prince Charles."
While the crowd awkwardly reacted to the quip, actor Brian Cox - who plays the Rupert Murdoch-inspired Logan Roy on Succession - told his writer and producer: "Keep it royalist, keep it royalist!"
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