Romantic drama series Normal People has kept viewers hooked and broken records for BBC Three.
Based on Sally Rooney's best-selling novel, Normal People follows the on-off romance between Marianne Sheridan (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell Waldron (Paul Mescal).
Following them from when they are together at school up through to university, it explores the impact they have on each other’s lives - and if you're anything like us, the emotional ending will have left you in floods of tears.
The finale sees the couple happy together, but their future is left unclear as Connell wins a place on a prestigious creative writing course in New York while Marianne decides to stay in Ireland.
Although Connell vows to come home for Marianne after a year, Marianne asks him not to promise anything.
The ending is, time-wise as least, in line with Rooney's novel but plenty of fans have wondered if the show's creators could extend the story further, as the makers of Channel 4's The Handmaid's Tale did.
Star of the drama Daisy Edgar-Jones has praised the conclusion, saying: “I think the reason I love the ending so much is that they’re still very much alive, which is really nice. You don’t have to put them to bed because they’re still reading and navigating the world."
Of her on-screen lover, she continued: “I hope Connell is flourishing in New York and really pursuing his dream and being very successful.”
Despite the cliffhanger ending, there doesn’t seem to be any immediate plans for a second series of Normal People, but it hasn't been entirely ruled out.
In a recent interview, series co-producer Ed Guiney confirmed that the team have “turned our attention – we're adapting [Rooney's debut novel] Conversations with Friends as a television series.”
Conversations with Friends follows two college students, Frances and Bobbi, in Dublin as they forge a strange and unexpected connection with married couple Melissa and Nick.
The whole production team behind Normal People will be heading over to Conversations with Friends, with the 12-part series being directed by Irish film-maker and Normal People producer Lenny Abrahamson, and produced by Element Pictures for BBC Three.
Writer Alice Birch, who worked on the BBC drama, will also return to pen a number of episodes.
"It's the same basic team," said Guiney. “So, in a way, that's what we'll be turning our attention to next.”
However, hope for more on Connell and Marianne is not lost, as he added: “But maybe down the line we'll come back to Connell and Marianne.”
Executive producer Abrahamson has also spoken about the future of Normal People, telling Digital Spy: “I have a fantasy of doing a kind of 10-year… you know, seeing where they are in 10 years' time sort of thing. It'd be good.”
Normal People is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. A double bill airs every Monday on BBC One at 9pm.
