Netflix's Anne with an E season two confirmed
The Anne of Green Gables adaptation will be back for ten more episodes which will "chart bold new territory"
Prepare the raspberry cordial and put on your best puffed-sleeve dress: Anne with an E is coming back for a second season.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com before the Anne of Green Gables adaptation aired on Netflix, the show's young star Amybeth McNulty said she would "adore" a chance to return as "romantical" redhead Anne Shirley-Cuthbert.
Now Netflix and Canadian broadcaster CBC have jointly announced the series renewal, with 10 new episodes set to begin shooting in the autumn. The show will return in 2018.
The first season stayed true to the spirit of LM Montgomery's beloved novel and introduced us to Anne's new adoptive parents Matthew (RH Thomson) and Marilla (Geraldine James). But screenwriter and producer Moira Walley-Beckett took the story in new directions, borrowing plot from much later in Anne's life and adding new twists and turns – some of them heartbreaking (spoilers to follow).
In Montgomery's version, Matthew discovers he has lost all the family's money in a shipping disaster just as Anne is about to leave school, and then suffers a fatal heart attack. But Walley-Beckett brought this crisis forward to Anne's early years with the Cuthberts and – crucially – allowed Matthew to live.
This leaves the Cuthberts open for more drama: the last time we saw Anne she was welcoming two new lodgers to the house to help pay the bills, unaware that these men were thieves with a plan.
Fans will also be wondering how Gilbert's story will play out. It was a surprise to see Gilbert's father die in the first season, leaving him as an orphan – and even more of a surprise that he then moved out of the village. Now Anne has made friends with Gilbert, is that an end to their rivalry? And will they have a romantic future together?
Netflix has promised that the show will "continue to chart bold new territory, adding new characters and storylines and continuing to explore themes of identity, prejudice, feminism, bullying, gender parity and empowerment."
Also returning will be Corrine Koslo (Rachel Lynde), Dalila Bela (Diana Barry), Aymeric Jett Montaz (Jerry Baynard), and Lucas Jade Zumann (Gilbert Blythe).
Emmy Award-winning series creator Walley-Beckett has pulled together an all-female writers' room for season two, including Jane Maggs, Shernold Edwards, Kathryn Borel, Amanda Fahey and Naledi Jackson.
“This season is brave and bold and full of wonder,” Walley-Beckett said in a statement. "It is colourful, exciting, action-packed and, of course, full of heart. I can’t wait to share all the brand new adventures!"
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