A Discovery of Witches, a three-season television series adapted from Deborah Harkness’s “All Souls” trilogy, enthralled audiences with its blend of fantasy, history, and romance, but there’s a good reason A Discovery of Witches season 4 didn’t happen. The show, which premiered in 2018, revolves around Diana Bishop, a historian and reluctant witch, who discovers a bewitched manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. This discovery thrusts her into a world of magic, where she encounters vampires, daemons, and other witches, including the enigmatic vampire Matthew Clairmont.

The Sky One/Sky Max show skillfully interweaves elements from the All Souls books, delivering a captivating narrative that explores themes of magic, forbidden love, and the struggle for power. The series quickly became a pop culture phenomenon, praised for its unique storytelling and richly developed characters. Rather than having strict genre lines, A Discovery of Witches‘ mix of the supernatural with historical and scientific elements, alongside its compelling character dynamics, contributed significantly to its wide-reaching impact. Plus, it was one of the best low fantasy shows with great magic systems.

A Discovery of Witches season 3, which concluded the adaptation of the trilogy, left fans spellbound and yearning for more, even though there was no more source material for the TV show to pull from at the time. The fourth All Souls book is a companion prequel-sequel book, not a core part of the story. The fifth book didn’t release until 2024. Luckily, the series never had the chance to go stale. A Discovery of Witches ended when it was supposed to, even if that meant the network not delivering season 4.

A Discovery Of Witches Stuck With The Source Material’s Structure

Each Season Is Inspired By A Book From The Trilogy

A Discovery of Witches was conceived as a three-season journey, each season mirroring one of the books in the “All Souls” trilogy. The show’s creators remained committed to this vision, ensuring that the television adaptation faithfully followed the narrative arc of Harkness’ novels. The original trilogy’s structure provided the TV show with a clear and cohesive narrative trajectory. Even Teresa Palmer, who played Diana, agreed with this method (via Radio Times), mentioning, “I’ve been able to be with Diana for a few years now… I feel so ready to have parted with her, because I think she landed in such a beautiful place.” This signals a more permanent departure from Diane and Matthew’s story for the actor.

The Cast Believes There Is Room For Spinoffs

One specific cast member has expressed his thoughts on the prospect of not a fourth season but a spinoff. In a Radio Times interview, actor Steven Cree, who portrayed Gallowglass, acknowledged the potential for a Gallowglass Discovery of Witches spinoff in the expansive universe. Cree highlighted Gallowglass’s rich, centuries-spanning backstory, noting, “…you can tell endless stories about Gallowglass. He’s been alive for eight centuries. And he’s such a great character.”

This statement opens up exciting possibilities for delving deeper into Gallowglass’s life and adventures, offering a vast timeline to explore his experiences and the intriguing dynamics of the supernatural world he inhabits, and it could span hundreds of years. Cree went into further detail about a potential Gallowglass spinoff in an interview with Digital Spy.

I would 100 percent be up for more Gallowglass – I don’t know whether Sky have the rights to do that, though. Gallowglass is a great character. It’s been like playing two characters because in season two he is like a rock ‘n’ roll vampire in the Elizabethan era, and in season three he is a motorbiker vampire [in the present day] who is in a completely different state of mind. I think there is huge scope for the different stories of those missing years [between season two and three] and the future – the only aspect I wouldn’t fancy is having to spend so much time in the gym again!

Additionally, Tanya Moodie, who played the villain Agatha in the A Discovery of Witches series, believes there’s room for more shows in the universe (via Radio Times). The actor revealed that she didn’t think her character was that well-defined and that Agatha could be explored further in a spinoff series. Read Moodie’s full comment below:

The main thing I’ve always contended with, playing a daemon, is that fans always ask me: ‘What exactly… what do daemons do?’ You know, witches do fancy spells, vampires bite people and they’re always really testy. And daemons are always just a bit… you know, they wear designer clothes, and are a bit kooky or something. Is that a power? [In the books] they have these kind of heightened abilities, and it’s a bit more supernatural.

Unfortunately, the decision about whether to continue the story with a spinoff is ultimately not up to the actors on the project. They would need to be on board, but it comes down to the network executives and rights owners.

There Was Talk Of A Spinoff Of A Discovery Of Witches

There Is More Source Material For A Show

When it was clear that A Discovery of Witches was coming to an end in 2022, there was actually talk of continuing stories set in the same universe with a spinoff series. A series centered on Gallowglass was, of course, the main topic of conversation at the time. The character is a fan-favorite, and that seemed to be where most of the interest lay, but he’s not the only character that could conceivably get a spinoff.

Though the books that inspired the original series were a trilogy, Harkness has since written another Diana and Matthew book, as well as additional books set in the same universe. She’s also got more books planned, one of them even centered on Gallowglass. Other books she has written have focused on Matthew Clairmont and his son, so there was always potential for a prequel series instead of a spinoff set around the same time.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the show will get that prequel or direct spinoff. Other novels by Harkness could be optioned by a studio and adapted in the future, but it’s unlikely that they would feature any A Discovery of Witches cast members at this point.

How A Discovery Of Witches Was Received

The Series Had A Small Audience But Critical Praise

Image via MovieStillDB

The Discovery of Witches fandom was small but mighty. There was a lot of excitement about even the idea of a season 4 of A Discovery of Witches. The television series was very well-received and a lot of audience members didn’t want the show to end. The series has a 93% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. The individual seasons are also rated very high.

Of course, as happens with most television shows, live ratings for the show did decline over the course of three seasons. While the first season had over 1 million viewers tuning in to each episode as it aired in the UK, the finale season averaged less than half that. That is likely due to many viewers waiting for streaming access to watch the entire series at one time. Outside the UK, streaming audiences had access to the show on AMC+, Shudder, and SundanceNow during its run, so there were multiple options available.

Even though A Discovery of Witches didn’t run the television award show circuit during its time on the air, it did receive some recognition in the UK. It was nominated for Best New Drama at the National Television Awards. Fans and critics alike praised the show.

Could A Discovery Of Witches Season 4 Happen?

Season 4 Is Unlikely To Happen

Showrunner Jane Tranter has emphasized her commitment to the original story, stating, “We set out to tell Diana and Matthew’s tale, and I believe we’ve done that faithfully.” Theoretically, that could now include a fourth season based on The Black Bird Oracle. However, it seems more likely they would go with Time’s Convert, a clear avenue for exploration in the A Discovery of Witches TV universe. While a direct continuation of the main storyline appears unlikely, there’s a potential for spinoffs or sequels, especially considering the expansive and detailed universe Harkness has created. If they went this direction, it would become akin to AMC+’s Immortals Universe.

Source: Radio Times, Radio Times, Digital Spy, Rotten Tomatoes