Succession Season 3: release date, cast, plot and trailer

Logan Roy and his four children are back for more in the third series (Image credit: HBO)

Succession season 3 was easily one of the most anticipated TV moments of the year; despite the two-year gap between seasons, Succession has proven once again it's a show worth waiting for.

Written and created by Jesse Armstrong, the dark and witty drama follows the Roy family, a dysfunctional bunch who spend their time stabbing each other in the back while fighting to become head of the family's media empire when patriarch Logan Roy steps down or passes away.

"We cannot wait to see how the complex characters that Jesse Armstrong has created continue to navigate this captivating, ruthless world of the uber-rich," said executive vice president of HBO drama programming Francesca Orsi.

"In today's world where the intersection of politics and media is increasingly prevalent, Succession presents an especially piercing look behind the curtain of this elite, influential, and cutthroat community."

Here's everything you need to know about Succession season 3 — although be warned — there are spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen the first two series...

'Succession' season 3 release date

Succession returned on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 9 pm on HBO and HBO Max in the US and on Monday, Oct. 18 at 9 pm on Sky Atlantic in the UK.

Future episodes will air in the same time slots in the US and UK. If you're a UK reader that can't wait till 9 pm, new episodes of Succession season three are also available to stream on Mondays on NOW TV at 2 a.m. BST.

The third season will run for nine episodes, one less than the past two series.

'Succession' season 3 plot

The second series ended with Logan Roy persuading his son Kendall to resign from Waystar Royco in a bid to save the ailing company, after insisting he didn't have the killer instinct needed to run it.

Yet in the final scenes of the second series, in a press conference set up for him to make the announcement, Kendall publicly turned on his father and branded him “a malignant presence, a bully and a liar”, leaving the race to succeed him wide open.

Succession Season 3 picked up right where we last left the Roy family (you can read a full recap of the first episode at the bottom of this article). Lead actor Brian Cox, who plays the Roy family's patriarch, says the new scripts are as good as ever and makes it sound like this season will be just as good as the last.

"I nearly fell off my chair because he [Armstrong] never tells you about the next series. We never knew from episode to episode what was going to happen. But then he told me. And it's jolly thrilling. That's all I can say."

He also hinted that the Roy family's youngest sibling could be central to the new series. “I’m fascinated to see how young Roman comes into play. He showed his mettle at the end of Season 2. I think he’s the hidden gun under the table.”

With the cast being snapped filming Italy, it's pretty safe to say we can expect a family trip to Europe at some point during the third season and the cast even got the chance to celebrate Alan Ruck's birthday while in Italy...

oh to be in italy with the succession family pic.twitter.com/PJsj5D7OW9July 2, 2021

'Succession' season 3 cast

All our favorite family members, including Logan Roy (Brian Cox), Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin), Siobhan "Shiv" Roy (Sarah Snook), Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun), Tom Wambsgans (Matthew MacFadyen) and Connor Roy (Alan Ruck) will be back for more, but there's a few new faces on the scene in the new season, too.

HBO announcing that Sanaa Lathan (The Affair) will play Lisa Arthur, a high profile New York lawyer, while South Korean pop star Jihae Kim has also joined the cast as PR guru Berry Schneider, and Linda Emond (Lodge 49) will play senior White House aide Michelle-Anne Vanderhoven. Exactly how the White House becomes involved in the fall-out between Logan and Kendall is a mystery, one we can't wait to get to the bottom of!

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Hope Davis (Your Honour) will appear for a multi-episode arc as Sandi Furness, daughter of the Roy's media arch-rival Sandy Furness.

Meanwhile, Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies) will also be playing a character called Lukas Matsson, “a successful, confrontational tech founder and CEO”, while Adrien Brody was also joining the show. The Peaky Blinders star will play Josh Aaronson, a billionaire activist investor who becomes pivotal in the battle for the ownership of Waystar.

Will there be a 'Succession' season 4?

HBO has officially renewed Succession for a fourth season, as it remains one of the most popular HBO original dramas on the cable network right now. There was no information on when we may be getting season four, but one would hope that it would be a shorter wait than the two-year one between season 2 and 3.

Is there a trailer?

Yes! The third season's first trailer landed at the start of July and it contained plenty of hints about where the show is going, including some tantalizing face-offs between Logan Roy and his son Kendall. Fingers crossed for poor Greg!

We then got the official trailer for Succession season three just one month ahead of the show's return on HBO. In addition to the most in-depth look at the Roy machinations, this trailer also gave us our first look at Adrien Brody and Alexander Skarsgard.

'Succession' episode recaps

Sean is a Senior Feature writer for TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week, who also writes for whattowatch.com. He's been covering the world of TV for over 15 years and in that time he's been lucky enough to interview stars like Ian McKellen, Tom Hardy and Kate Winslet. His favourite shows are I'm Alan Partridge, The Wire, People Just Do Nothing and Succession and in his spare time he enjoys drinking tea, doing crosswords and watching football.