Sex Education's Final Season Ends With a Bang

After four years of bad sex, it’s finally time to say farewell to the incredibly horny teens of Sex Education. The fourth and final season of Netflix’s hit comedy series about the comings and goings of Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) and his sex therapy clinic premiered Thursday, September 21. On a special bonus episode of Still Watching, executive producer Jamie Campbell stops by to discuss the final chapter of Sex Education.

Moordale Secondary School shuts down for good at the end of season three, forcing Otis, Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), and the rest of their class to transfer to a new school at the top of season four. While the closing down of Moordale made dramaturgical sense, there was actually a very practical reason for the setting shift as well: “We were using a location that has since been demolished,” says Campbell. “We knew at the beginning of season three that that was a jeopardy that we were going to face.”

The demolition of Moordale makes way for Cavendish College, a super-progressive, high-tech, ultra-inclusive new school where the Moordale students are forced to transfer. Along with a new school comes a new cast of characters, many of whom identify as queer or trans. Campbell says that he was struck by how many more trans actors auditioned for Sex Education in season four compared to the first season. “We did auditions for a couple of trans characters in the past, and the truth was that there was very little take-up in terms of auditions,” says Campbell. “The audition process on season four for the trans characters was very, very different. There were tens of thousands of people that came forward. That was really exciting, because I think it said something about our society in general.”

Beyond Cavendish College, Maeve (Emma Mackey) travels to America to attend the prestigious Wallace University, where she meets her match in Mr. Molloy, an awfully mean teacher played by Emmy winner Dan Levy. Like Jemima Kirke’s headmistress Hope Haddon, Sex Education delights in flipping the audience’s preconceived notions about the lovable Levy. “What I love about what he’s delivered is that it is probably very different from how people have seen him onscreen before,” teases Campbell.

Speaking of screens, a good chunk of the Sex Education cast, including Gatwa, Mackey, and Connor Swindells, could be found gracing the big screen this summer in Greta Gerwig’s mega-hit Barbie. Campbell said he got “quite a kick” out of seeing so many of the series regulars in the film, and recalled meeting up with some of them in Los Angeles while they were filming the movie. “I remember having supper with Emma and Connor in Los Angeles around the time that they had just started filming, and them talking so casually about what Ryan [Gosling] had been chatting with them about today, and how Will Ferrell had just been such a big fan of Connor’s work on set—just so casual,” he says. “I felt very, very proud of all of them.”

Listen to the full interview with Campbell below, and as always, email in your own questions, comments, and thoughts to stillwatchingpod@gmail.com.