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 May 2023, ahead of the fifth-season premiere, the series was renewed for a sixth season. The fifth season premiered on September 7, 2023. The sixth season premiered on December 19, 2024. In October 2024, ahead of the sixth season premiere, the series was renewed for a seventh season.
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.
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. On October 23, 2024, ahead of the sixth season premiere, Netflix renewed the series for a 10-episode seventh season. It was also reported to be Netflix's longest-running English-language drama series and longest-running current original scripted series.
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. On September 23, 2024, Jessica Rothe and Callum Kerr were cast in recurring capacities for the sixth season. On December 19, 2024, Smith confirmed that Ghanimé is not returning as a series regular for the seventh season. On March 13, 2025, Sara Canning and Cody Kearsley joined the cast in recurring roles for the seventh season.
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. Filming for the seventh season began on March 12, 2025 and is scheduled to conclude on June 26, 2025.
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.
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. The sixth season was released on December 19, 2024.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 90% with an average rating of 6.3/10, 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, with an average rating of 6/10. The fourth season holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 7 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. On Rotten Tomatoes, the fifth season has an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 5 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10.
On February 22, 2024, it was announced that a prequel about Mel's parents (Sarah and Everett) is in development.