Will there be a season 4 of The Bay? How many episodes of series 3 of ITV drama are there - and will it return

ITV crime drama The Bay will return for a fourth series, it has been announced.

The third series of The Bay concluded on Wednesday 16 February, with new detective/family liaison officer DS Jenn Townsend (Marsha Thomason) finally making a breakthrough investigating Saif’s murder.

Shortly after the episode aired, ITV announced that a fourth series of The Bay had been commissioned, with filming planned to take place later in 2022.

What did the announcement say?

Executive producer Catherine Oldfield commented “We are delighted at how The Bay audiences have taken to new FLO, DS Jenn Townsend, played by the brilliant Marsha Thomason and how Jenn’s arrival and her personal storyline has breathed new energy into the show.”

“Together with [creator] Daragh [Carville] and all our amazing cast and crew, we can’t wait to get going on the new series.”

Oldfield is the co-founder and creative director of production company Tall Story Pictures, the team behind The Bay. Oldfield has previously served as executive producer on Home Fires, Sticks and Stones, and Trauma.

Polly Hill, head of drama at ITV, said “I’m delighted that we will be returning to Morecambe for another series of The Bay.”

“Marsha Thomason delivered a brilliant performance as DS Jenn Townsend, and it will be exciting to see where Daragh [Carville, the screenwriter] takes her character in series four.”

When will The Bay series 4 air?

We don’t yet know when The Bay Series 4 will return. Given that it’s confirmed to film later in 2022, though, it’s a reasonable assumption that we’ll next see The Bay on our screens in 2023.

The most recent series of The Bay was filmed across summer 2021, and aired at the beginning of 2022; both series 2 and 3 aired from January to February, so it’s likely series three will arrive at a similar point in 2023.

Will Marsha Thomason return?

Current star Marsha Thomason is expected to return once again to headline The Bay series 4. Thomason – who previously starred in US drama Lost – took over from previous star Morven Christie, who played detective Lisa Armstrong in the first two seasons of The Bay.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Thomason – who lives in LA and lived in the UK while shooting The Bay – said she’d be very interested in reprising her role on The Bay.

"I had such a good time shooting it," said Thomason. "We were shooting it through COVID, which obviously makes everything so difficult. And yet we still managed, with our masks, to have a great time… Hopefully we’ll get us a fourth series, and hopefully we won’t have to wear masks!"

“I would [come back]. I cannot say enough, I enjoyed this job immensely and this role,” she continued.

How many episodes were in Series 3?

There were six episodes in Series 3 of The Bay, just like Series 1 and Series 2. Presumably a fourth series would see the same number of episodes again.

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