Virgin River was already Netflix’s longest-running drama—but they’re upping the ante even more with a forthcoming season 8. Well before season 7 premiered, the streamer greenlit another installment of the feel-good series about life in the tiny, fictional, eponymous California town. Based on the romance book series by Robyn Carr, showrunner Patrick Sean Smith has “no plans to wrap up the series anytime soon,” telling Deadline that “as long as people keep coming back for it, we’re proud and happy to keep telling these stories.”
With that in mind and season 7 available on Netflix, here’s what we know about season 8, including when we can expect the new episodes after that cliffhanger season 7 finale.
Jack (Martin Henderson) and Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) welcomed a newborn in season 7.
Is ‘Virgin River’ renewed for season 8?
Back in July 2025—just days after season 7 wrapped production—Netflix announced that Virgin River fans had even more to look forward to with an early season 8 renewal. “On behalf of myself and the whole Virgin River family, we’re eternally grateful to Netflix and to the fans for allowing us to continue on this journey with these beloved characters,” Smith told Tudum at the time. According to the streamer, Virgin River is Netflix’s longest-running current original scripted series, and season 8 will add 10 more episodes to its story.
Season 8 will likely release in 2027.
When will ‘Virgin River’ season 8 come out?
Since premiering in 2019, the small town drama series has maintained a consistent schedule, releasing new episodes almost every year—the only time this went off course was between seasons 6 and 7 (6 debuted in December 2024, and audiences had to wait until March 2026 to get season 7, despite getting an early renewal). With that in mind, the absolute latest we expect season 8 to hit our screens is late 2027, though it’s very likely that we’ll get new episodes earlier than that. According to Deadline, filming resumes in April and is set to wrap up in August, so hopefully we’ll be back in our favorite cozy town by next spring.
Most of the core cast will return for the upcoming episodes.
Who in the ‘Virgin River’ cast will return for season 8?
While returning and new cast members haven’t officially been announced, it’s safe to assume that Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson will return as the central couple of the series, Mel and Jack. Other series regulars, like Colin Lawrence (Preacher), Annette O’Toole (Hope), Tim Matheson (Doc), Sarah Dugdale (Lizzie), Zibby Allen (Brie), Kai Bradbury (Denny), Kandyse McClure (Kaia), and Ben Hollingsworth (Brady), will also return. (Yes, it’s been announced that we’ll see more of Brady, despite his accident. More on that below!)
Season 7 also introduced a few new faces, and we know a handful will stick around: Cody Kearsley (Clay) and Austin Nichols (Eli). Clay will continue searching for his missing sister, and Smith confirmed to Deadline that Eli will make another appearance.
Mike (Marco Grazzini) and Victoria (Sara Canning) are among the characters who won’t be back in season 8.
A few characters have been confirmed not to return. In a surprising shake-up, Smith also told Deadline that Marco Grazzini, who plays Mike, and Lauren Hammersley, who plays Charmaine, won’t reprise their roles in season 8. While the showrunner explained they could return in future seasons, he said their stories were complete for now and that he wants to make room for new characters.