Will season 4 be the final season?
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MovieChat Forums > Mr Selfridge (2013) Discussion > Will season 4 be the final season?
It's interesting that ITV isn't promoting it as the final series (yet), but people involved with the show have said this is the last one.
Perhaps they are waiting to see how it does, as it is a significant investment and Downton has just ended. I doubt it will earn another season, but I'm still holding out hope for a Christmas special. This show was practically made for one. It could be a completely self-contained story and they could set it during whatever time they want - even bring back some favorite characters.
I'd love a Christmas special, but with ITV basically burning off S4 on Friday, I don't see that happening.
share...where Selfridge is a penniless old man on the street, looking mournfully at the store he founded?
The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness
I'm not sure about the UK, however, in the States, Selfridge never generated ratings even close to those of Downton for PBS. Viewership declined substantially from season 1 to 2, then dropped to new lows with season 3. Season 4 was probably a contractual commitment. Based solely on ratings, I believe the series otherwise would have been cancelled after Season 3.
shareThe ratings decline is the same in the UK, based on articles I've read.
But Mr. Selfridge--and just about every other period drama that's debuted since fall 2010--has been unfairly under the shadow of Downton Abbey. Pre-Downton, 3-5m viewers per episode would have been considered respectable for this niche TV genre. Now every channel that produces or airs period dramas keeps expecting the fluke that made Downton massive to happen again. And again.
But will they take it to the end? That was my question.
The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness
I have no idea. The writers could leave the series finale with a foreshadowing of Harry's end, or they could go through multiple years in ten episodes until we reach the 1940s. I guess it depends on if they consider Mr Selfridge a biopic or a frothy drama based loosely on HGS's life.
shareThey already kind of foreshadowed Harry's end in last year's finale.
The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness
Now every channel that produces or airs period dramas keeps expecting the fluke that made Downton massive to happen again. And again.
Very true, but these two series' are scheduled back-to-back on the vast majority of PBS stations in the States. PBS & other networks bank largely on "surprise blockbusters" like Downton also feeding ratings to the shows broadcasting immediately afterward (commonly known as "viewer retention").
They don't anticipate that the viewership retention will be 100% of the "blockbuster" lead-in, but Selfridge performed particularly poorly in this slot. For example, ratings for Sherlock are impressive--even when compared to Downton. IMHO, the quality of production & plot development of Selfridge are on par with Downton, but the viewing public never embraced it in the same way. They seemed to tune out after S1.
Given the poor reception, I was quite surprised when learning that a S3 & S4 were even being produced. share
Articles say otherwise about Sherlock's ratings. Its fanbase skews much younger than the typical PBS viewer, and since they watch when the show airs on the BBC they don't need to tune in when it is scheduled to air in the US.
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/01/27/downton-abbey-draws-8-2-million-total-viewers-while-sherlock-averages-just-under-2-9-million-on-pbs/
Mr Selfridge wasn't alone in being rejected by audiences, as I said. None of the other shows that haved aired on PBS have done as well as Downton. But they had respectable ratings that would have satisfied PBS, BBC, and ITV pre-Downton Abbey! I'm still upset about the abrupt cancellation of The Bletchley Circle. Even the reboot of Upstairs Downstairs grew on me when I watched all nine episodes a year after S2 ended.
What's unfortunate is that the attempts to catch lightning in a bottle is stunting the period drama genre. Indian Summers for example should have been more interesting, but it was obviously patterned after the social hierarchies and archetypes of DA, but with white and Indian characters. And now PBS is going to be going all out with the Civil War drama Mercy Street, and I foresee the shoe-horning of Downton comparisons (they already pushed it on Poldark). Even War and Peace can't escape it.
What's unfortunate is that the attempts to catch lightning in a bottle is stunting the period drama genre. Indian Summers for example should have been more interesting, but it was obviously patterned after the social hierarchies and archetypes of DA, but with white and Indian characters. And now PBS is going to be going all out with the Civil War drama Mercy Street, and I foresee the shoe-horning of Downton comparisons (they already pushed it on Poldark). Even War and Peace can't escape it.
That all sounds so grim.
I enjoyed S1 of this show, there were parts of S2 I liked and then I didn't love S3. I believe this is the final one, and out of this show and the Paradise, I much prefer this.
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