Rufus Jones says Home revival is possible after Channel 4 cancellation: "There is a conversation to be had"

Having sketched out another batch of episodes, Jones told RadioTimes.com that there is "a conversation to be had" with other possible outlets, including streaming platforms, about continuing the series.

"The way it normally works is you have a conversation with the channel before each series and talk about what you'd like to do with the characters – so although no episodes were written [for series three], I had the arcs, I had the storylines, and sort of had the map, basically," Jones explained.

"So it was disappointing [not to get picked up]. But you know, that's TV – it's happened before, it'll happen again. I suppose the difference in this situation is that the last year has just been so seismic for the creative arts and TV and so it became harder to read the room, so to speak, for us and for lots of other people making television.

"It's no secret that Channel Four had a very, very difficult 2020 and were kind of fighting for their own survival to some extent, with advertising revenue falling away and stuff. And so I think the reasons [behind the cancellation] were sort of expected to some extent."

Jones added that Channel 4 was "very keen to make series three", but suggested that "unprecedented financial constraints" caused in part by the pandemic "meant that they just weren't able to commit to all the shows they wanted to bring back."

"I think it's fair to say in any other year I'd have been much more confident about coming back," he said. "But this year, I don't think anyone was assuming anything, if you know what I mean."

Looking to the future, Jones says the possibility exists for Home to live on elsewhere. "I think sort of five or 10 years ago, you'd probably say, 'Well, it's been an incredible journey and time to move on to other projects.' And although I've got a fair amount of other stuff on, the fragmented world of TV opportunities means that there is a conversation to be had of streamers and stuff – we were being shown on HBO Max for instance in the States and on BritBox.

"So I think it's the producers intention to have some talks about whether there's an opportunity to carry on the story elsewhere, simply because we know what we want to do and it would feel like a missed opportunity not to sit down with other channels and other broadcasters who've already invested in the show, and see whether they'd like to take it further."

The final episode of Home's second series saw a frustrated Sami attempt to flee the UK and return to Damascus after months of waiting to be granted indefinite leave to remain, only for Peter and Katy's son John (Oaklee Pendergast) to track him down in Greece. In the final scene, Sami received a letter confirming his status and though we didn't find out what it contained, the series closed on a shot of an emotional Sami smiling, seemingly providing some closure were the show to end there.

"I was very aware of... particularly in series two, we put Sami through quite a lot," Jones explained. "So we wanted a happy climax to it, because he'd been through so much. But to do it without words I think was the best option – which is kind of what we ended up doing, playing things out wordlessly and just seeing it on his face.

"We fully want to carry on to a third series and however many more, but I suppose I unconsciously wrote some sort of climax to series two knowing that the fight for a third series is often a little bit harder than the fight for a second. Though in a sense his story just begins when he gets asylum in the UK, in that just because you're allowed to stay doesn't mean life becomes much easier for a lot of people."

If this is the end of Home and Sami's journey though, Jones says he's proud of what the show achieved, and the reception it received. "We live in a world now that's very binary, where you have to be for or against something all the time, and I think Home explored a sort of a balance where people belong but don't necessarily share the same views. I know we weren't the only show doing it, but I think we were one of a raft of shows that were sort of unifying comedies, showing people coming together – and I think that was probably just an effect of the times in which we were living.

"I'm also just very proud of getting a lead character on screen of Arab descent, and having that character front and centre and exploring a subject that we tend to associate with documentary rather than fiction."

Beyond the possible third series, Home might also be revisited in the form of a US remake, with Jones collaborating with Ben Stiller – who serves as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency – on a Stateside version.

"The stuff I was inspired by when I was writing was a lot of American stuff, like Transparent and This is Us – I think American TV has has been dealing in these kind of multi-genre shows that drift and dodge between comedy and drama for a long time, and we're sort of catching up," Jones said. "I'm actually pitching the US version of Home with Ben Stiller in about a month, so it'll be interesting to see if we can sell it back into that market."

The first two series of Home are available to watch now on All4 – visit our TV Guide to find something to watch tonight.