Sanditon season 3: ITVX release date, cast, plot, trailer and everything we know

Sanditon season 3 is the final series, sadly for fans. However, judging by the fabulous pictures and plot teases there's plenty to look forward to as Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) tries to secure love. 

Based on the unfinished novel by Jane Austen, Sanditon has become a huge hit, as poor Charlotte falls in and out of love.

At the end of the second series, she'd shockingly agreed to marry farmer Ralph Starling (Cai Brigden), only shortly after having her romantic dreams with the brooding Alexander Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) dashed.

Rose Williams tells us: "Charlotte returns to Sanditon for her best friend Georgiana's 21st birthday party. She is also introducing her fiancé, Ralph, to her dearest friends, and the place she discovered the new version of herself that he very much wants to understand."

Meanwhile, Crystal Clarke, who plays Georgiana, adds: "Georgiana is looking toward true independence, and that's exactly what she believes her inheritance will give her. So, of course she is celebrating with the most lavish of all the balls Sanditon will ever see. She wants her 21st birthday party to be spectacular! Georgiana and Arthur team up to plan an event that will be nothing less."

Here's everything we know...

Sanditon season 3 release date

Sanditon season 3 will be released in the UK on August 17, 2023, on ITVX. It will then air on ITV1 at a later date. 

Please note the series was originally due early August but will now be available at the later date above.

It aired in the US back in March on Masterpiece. You can still stream it via the official site.

What's the plot?

Well, as mentioned Charlotte has agreed to marry Ralph, although we're not convinced Ralph is the love of her life. After having a troublesome time with Alexander Colbourne, who led her on a merry dance in series two, Charlotte appears to have settled for Ralph. The main picture does show them looking close at a beach, but we don’t think Charlotte will end up with Ralph. Colbourne is still on the scene and perhaps the pair will resolve their difficulties and find love.

Georgina finds herself under a lot of pressure to get married, as Crystal explains: 

"Georgiana is so hungry for autonomy, she doesn't want to surrender control to anyone. Coming into her inheritance, she would finally be in charge — but Sanditon is still set in Jane Austen's world, where women were expected to marry. Once they did, their husbands gained control of their finances. Georgiana is thinking about how marriage would only mean the same confinement she has felt, and for the rest of her life."

Meanwhile, the new arrivals shaking up the coastal resort include Lady Montrose (Emma Fielding, Van der Valk), the quintessential Austen mother who arrives in Sanditon with one objective: matches for her children, Lydia and Henry. Lydia (Alice Orr-Ewing, A Very English Scandal) is an independent young woman who is not as eager for a match as her mother, and Lord Henry Montrose (Edward Davis, Emma) is charismatic and confident, but he holds a secret. 

Rowleigh Pryce (James Bolam, New Tricks) is a wealthy, curmudgeonly investor who is interested in teaming up with Tom Parker on the seaside resort’s expansion. Their plans become complicated when Rowleigh runs into the formidable Lady Denham. 

Sanditon season 3 cast

Rose Williams is back as our heroine Charlotte. While former Death in Paradise star Kris Marshall is back as Tom Parker, alongside Anne Reid as Lady Denham. Crystal Clarke returns as Georgina. Liam Garrigan (Small Axe) joins as Alexander’s brother, Samuel Colbourne — a lawyer, and a charming bachelor.

Plus, as mentioned New Tricks star James Bolam turns up as a wealthy investor, Emma Fielding plays Lady Montrose and Alice Orr-Ewing and Edward Davis star as her children.

Is there a trailer?

Yes, it opens with Charlotte saying: "Too often, young women are thought to be strangers to their own minds. It is left to fathers or uncles to choose the path their lives should take as if we require saving from ourselves." Alexander Colbourne says: "If you've taught me anything Miss Heywood, is that a young woman has a right to choose her own destiny." The trailer sees Charlotte clearly torn between whether to take the safe option by wedding Ralph or risk falling for Colbourne all over again...