Virgin River (TV series)

Virgin River is an American romantic drama television series, produced by Reel World Management, filmed in British Columbia, Canada, and based on the Virgin River novels by Robyn Carr. The first season premiered on Netflix on December 6, 2019. In September 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth and fifth season. The fourth season was released on July 20, 2022. In May 2023, ahead of the fifth-season premiere, the series was renewed for a sixth season that will consist of 10 episodes.

Premise
Virgin River follows Melinda "Mel" Monroe, who answers an ad to work as a midwife and nurse practitioner in the remote Northern California town of Virgin River, thinking it will be the perfect place to start fresh and leave her painful memories behind. But she soon discovers that small-town living is not quite as simple as she expected.

Main

 * Alexandra Breckenridge as Melinda "Mel" Monroe, a nurse practitioner and midwife who recently moved to Virgin River from Los Angeles
 * Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan, a local bar owner and former U.S. Marine, who suffers from PTSD
 * Colin Lawrence as John "Preacher" Middleton, a close Marine friend of Jack, who works as the chef at Jack's Bar
 * Jenny Cooper as Joey Barnes (season 1; recurring season 2–present), Mel's older sister who lives in Los Angeles
 * Lauren Hammersley as Charmaine Roberts (seasons 1–4; recurring season 5), Jack's friend with benefits
 * Annette O'Toole as Hope McCrea, the mayor of Virgin River and Doc's wife
 * Tim Matheson as Vernon "Doc" Mullins, the local physician and Hope's husband
 * Benjamin Hollingsworth as Dan Brady (season 2–present; "also starring", season 1), a fellow younger veteran who served in the Marines with Jack and is struggling to readjust to civilian life
 * Grayson Gurnsey as Ricky (seasons 2–4; recurring season 1), a young man who works at Jack's Bar and wants to join the Marines as soon as he graduates from high school
 * Sarah Dugdale as Lizzie (season 2–present), Connie's troublemaking niece from Los Angeles
 * Zibby Allen as Brie Sheridan (season 3–present), Jack's sister
 * Marco Grazzini as Mike Valenzuela (season 3–present; recurring season 2), a Marine friend of Jack's who works as a police detective
 * Mark Ghanimé as Dr. Cameron Hayek (season 4–present), the new doctor at Doc's clinic
 * Kai Bradbury as Denny Cutler (season 4–present; guest season 3), Doc's grandson
 * Kandyse McClure as Kaia Bryant (season 5), a firefighter

Recurring

 * Daniel Gillies as Mark Monroe (also starring season 1; recurring season 3; guest seasons 2, 4), Mel's late husband who is shown in flashbacks
 * Lexa Doig as Paige Lassiter (seasons 1, 4; guest seasons 2, 5), the owner of a bakery truck named "Paige's Bakeaway" and mother of Christopher
 * Lynda Boyd as Lilly (seasons 1–3; guest season 4), a friend of Connie and Hope
 * Nicola Cavendish as Connie, one of Hope's friends who runs the town's general store and a member of Virgin River's knitting circle. She also later takes over and runs Paige's Bakeaway
 * Ian Tracey as Jimmy (seasons 1–2; guest seasons 3–5), Calvin's right-hand man
 * David Cubitt as Calvin (seasons 1–2, 4; guest seasons 3, 5), the man who ran the illegal pot farm on the other side of Virgin River
 * Teryl Rothery as Muriel, an actress and a rival of Hope's and a member of Virgin River's knitting circle
 * Gwynyth Walsh as Jo Ellen, a member of Virgin River's knitting circle who put Mel up while her cabin is renovated
 * Christina Jastrzembska as Lydie, a member of Virgin River's knitting circle and Ricky's grandmother
 * Chase Petriw as Christopher (seasons 1–4; guest season 5), Paige's son who forms a close bond with Preacher
 * Trevor Lerner as Bert Gordon (seasons 2–present; guest season 1), Virgin River's resident Tow Truck Driver
 * Steve Bacic as Wes, Paige's estranged and abusive husband, and Vince (season 2; guest seasons 3–5), his identical twin
 * Keith MacKechnie as Nick (seasons 2-present), Jo Ellen's husband and co-owner of the local BnB
 * Carmel Amit as Jamie (season 2), a restaurant owner visiting Virgin River who connects with Preacher
 * Chad Rook as Spencer (season 2; guest season 1), one of Calvin's workers
 * Patrick Sabongui as Todd Masry (season 3), Charmaine's wealthy fiancé
 * Lucia Walters as Julia (seasons 3–5), a karate teacher that Preacher dated
 * Stacey Farber as Tara Anderson (seasons 3–present), Lilly's daughter
 * Clare Filipow as Hannah (seasons 3–present), a server at Jack's Bar
 * Barbara Pollard as Melissa Montgomery (seasons 4–5), Jo Ellen's sister-in-law who runs the lumber company
 * Libby Osler as Ava Anderson (season 5), Lilly's daughter and Tara's sister
 * Elise Gatien as Lark (season 5)
 * Gabrielle Rose as Amelia Sheridan (season 5), Brie and Jack's mother

Development
On September 27, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was based on the Virgin River book series by Robyn Carr with executive producers: Sue Tenney, Roma Roth, and Chris Perry. Tenney was also set to serve as the series' showrunner with Reel World Management acting as the Production company involved in the series. On December 20, 2019, Netflix renewed the series for a 10-episode second season. On December 18, 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a 10-episode third season. On September 20, 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a 12-episode fourth and fifth season. On July 26, 2022, it was reported that Patrick Sean Smith replaced Sue Tenney as showrunner. On May 17, 2023, ahead of the fifth-season premiere, Netflix renewed the series for a sixth season.

Casting
On December 19, 2018, it was reported that Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Tim Matheson, and Annette O'Toole had been cast in series regular roles. Additionally, it was further reported that Jenny Cooper, David Cubitt, Lexa Doig, Daniel Gillies, Lauren Hammersley, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Colin Lawrence, Trevor Lerner, and Ian Tracey had joined the cast in an undisclosed capacity. On May 29, 2020, Sarah Dugdale joined the second season as a series regular while Grayson Gurnsey has been promoted as a series regular for the second season. On June 11, 2020, Benjamin Hollingsworth was promoted to a series regular for the second season. Upon the third season renewal announcement, Zibby Allen was cast a new series regular and Stacey Farber was cast in a recurring role. On October 25, 2021, Mark Ghanimé and Kai Bradbury joined cast as new series regulars for the fourth season.

Filming
Principal photography for the series' first season commenced on December 3, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia and Saltspring Island, BC and ended on March 26, 2019. The series was also filmed on location in Snug Cove, Bowen Island, New Westminster, Squamish, Agassiz, and Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Filming for the second season began on September 9, 2019, and ended on December 17, 2019. Filming for the fourth season ended on December 7, 2021. Filming for the fifth season began on July 18 and concluded on November 21, 2022. Filming for the sixth season began on February 22, 2024 and concluded on May 31, 2024.

The community of Virgin River is actually Snug Cove, Bowen Island "with establishing shots including the local library, main streets and Artisan Lane", according to one report. The Watershed Grill, in Brackendale, British Columbia stands in for Jack's Grill; some of the scenes involving Melinda and Jack were filmed in Squamish, near the river. The waterfalls in the show is in the Shannon Falls Provincial Park. Some scenes were filmed in Burnaby at Fraser Foreshore Park and at Port Coquitlam, both near Vancouver. The cabin in the series is the caretaker's house in Murdo Frazer Park, in North Vancouver; this site has been used by other productions as well. Doc Mullins' practice is a Victorian home in New Westminster.

Release
The first season premiered on December 6, 2019. The second season premiered on November 27, 2020. The third season was released on July 9, 2021. The fourth season premiered on July 20, 2022. The fifth season premiered on September 7, 2023.

Critical response
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 90% with an average rating of 6.30/10, based on 10 critic ratings. The website's critics consensus reads, "Gentle as a babbling brook—and just as exciting, for better or worse—Virgin River's sophomore season offers up more of the comfort viewing that fans have come to crave." On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 56%, based on 9 critic ratings. The fourth season holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10.

Prequel
On February 22, 2024, it was announced that a prequel about Sarah and Everett is in development.