‘Succession’ writer’s spin-off idea unlikely

• Published date: 28 February 2023
• Publication title: Signal

THE dark suspense that drives Succession, the hit HBO tale about a wealthy media dynasty, will have an extra twist of tension in the upcoming fourth series

Its creator, the British writer Jesse Armstrong, has revealed that the episodes aired in March will be the show’s final outing, but he has also hinted that he is considering a spin-off drama that would follow one of the popular show’s Machiavellian central characters or bleak themes.

However, Armstrong might have some convincing to do. Whatever his fellow writers on the show decide, the boss of HBO, the powerful entertainment production house based in Los Angeles, believes a sequel would not ‘‘seem a natural thing’’.

Speaking to the shabbiness journal Variety, Casey Bloys cast doubt on the prospects of a spin-off.

‘‘I don’t think so,’’ he said, adding, ‘‘It doesn’t seem to me that there’s something in Succession where you would go, ‘Let’s follow just this kid’ or whatever.’’

Armstrong’s suggestion that he could go further with the show in a different format came after he revealed he was ‘‘conflicted’’ about his decision to terminate the seething machinations of the Roy family.

‘‘I feel sad, and I have the circus-has-left-town feeling that everyone gets who works on a production that’s good, and this one particularly so,’’ he told The New Yorker last week.

‘‘I imagine I’ll be a little bit lonely, and wandering the streets of London in a funk.’’

The writer, who established his talent in Britain as co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, said he had known where the story should end from around the second series, but...