Sharon Horgan teases Carrie Fisher tribute and emotional ending in final ever episode of Catastrophe
The star explains why she and co-creator Rob Delaney felt now was the right time to end the hit Channel 4 comedy
After four series and 24 episodes, Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney's comedy Catastrophe is coming to an end – and the stars are set on going out on a high.
That, for Horgan, means super-sizing the episode, "messing with everyone's heads", and including an emotional tribute to the late Carrie Fisher, who played Delaney's curmudgeonly mother in the series.
"It's the last episode we're ever going to do, and I can tell you that it's a little bit of a tribute to Carrie Fisher," Horgan told RadioTimes.com.
"I can tell you that we really wanted to mess with everyone's heads. It's emotional, and it's a little bit longer than usual," she added at the Radio Times Covers Party. "All of Rob's family are there, and it's not in England. That's enough, right?"
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Horgan had previously hinted that series four would be a "thank you and a goodbye" to Star Wars actress Fisher, who guest starred in the first three series of Catastrophe.
It 'felt like the right time' to end Catastrophe
Creators Horgan and Delaney had confirmed even before series four had aired that this would be the final final outing for Catastrophe.
Explaining the decision, Horgan said, "We've been doing it for a long time – from the start of it to now it's probably six years – doing a show that we absolutely love, and getting to a point where we thought, 'Well, what if we can't think of something that's original and funny anymore?'"
She added, "I would say writing episode four was maybe the hardest one in terms of coming up with stuff that felt original or new or like we had something new to say. So I think we just felt like, maybe, quit while we're ahead."
That said, Horgan added that the door has been left open for a return further down the line, saying that the ending doesn't mean that it's "over for good forever".
"And also, you know, maybe down the line like in 10 years or whatever," she hinted, "it doesn't mean that it's dead and over for good forever. But it just means that's it for now."
Horgan also provided an update on the new Channel 4 sitcom she is working on with Aisling Bea, which was formerly known as Happy AF.
"We're shooting it right now – we just started three days ago," she said. "It's now called This Way Up. She's written six really beautiful scripts, we've got an insane cast, and it's shooting in London and around England at the moment and we can't wait for everybody to see it."
Catastrophe continues on Tuesday at 10pm on Channel 4
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