Hit TV show 'Fleabag' will not return for third season, says star

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's critically acclaimed comedy is coming to an end this week

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the creator and star of the darkly funny 'Fleabag'. FilmMagic

It's won a Bafta, and been nominated for myriad other awards, but alas, smash-hit TV show Fleabag is unlikely to be tickling audiences for much longer.

The BBC comedy, which is written by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, won't return to screens for a third season, according to actress Sian Clifford.

The British star, who plays Claire, sister of Waller-Bridge's titular character Fleabag, revealed "this is it", ahead of the second season's finale airing on BBC 3 on Monday night.

"I've described it online as this beautiful perfect ending, and I think it is but I think what it's closer to is poetry," Clifford told BBC Breakfast in a televised interview. "There will not be a third series."

She added: "I think people will accept this is the end when they see it, because I think it is complete. I think the story is complete."

The show, which first premiered in 2016, focuses around the life of Fleabag, a woman in her mid-30s living in London, as she deals with love, loss, friendships and family.

With its distinctive narrative style – Waller-Bridge often breaks the fourth wall to witty effect – and no-holds-barred style of comedy, Fleabag became a cult classic for audiences, despite its all-too-brief life.

The show was initially adapted from Waller-Bridge's 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe one-woman play of the same name, which bagged the Fringe First Award.

The latest season began broadcasting on BBC 3 last month, with the finale scheduled for April 8. Series two, which added Kristin Scott Thomas and Sherlock's Andrew Scott to the cast alongside regulars including Olivia Colman, will launch on Amazon on May 17.

Waller-Bridge has herself suggested a third season will not be filmed, telling the BBC earlier this year that series two was "the final curtain".

"I have thought about it and there isn't going to be one."