Martin Henderson has confirmed that filming on Virgin River's sixth season will commence "very soon" following the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strikes. Returning to social media on Friday, the actor – who is currently shooting My Life Is Murder in New Zealand – took part in an Instagram Live, where he answered questions from fans.
Asked when season six of Virgin River will start filming, Martin replied: "Very soon, don't you worry about that! We'll get back to that now that the strike is over."
Racing to the comments, a number of fans were quick to celebrate the news. "Love it when you post. Cannot wait for Virgin River November episodes and season 6 to start filming, and announcements of seasons beyond. We don't want this to ever stop," wrote one.
"Patiently waiting for you and the VR team to get back to filming. Lovely to hear a mention of it. Enjoy your last day on this current project," added another.
The SAG-AFTRA strike officially ended earlier this month after the union agreed a tentative deal with Hollywood studios. This means that production on a number of TV shows and movies, including Virgin River, is set to resume following four months of disruption. While the show's writers returned to the writing room back in October, it could still be a little while before Netflix shares a release date for season six.
However, the good news is that viewers don't have to wait too long for more episodes, as Virgin River's two festive specials are scheduled to premiere on Thursday 30 November. A teaser trailer has been already released by Netflix, showing Mel and Jack embarking on a very merry scavenger hunt as Virgin River prepares for the annual Christmas Tree decorating contest.
During filming on the Christmas episodes last year, Tudum spoke to Martin, 49, about what's in store, and he had some interesting remarks.
"The community event is the Christmas tree light competition. So of course, Hope and Doc are very competitive about that," he began. "Everyone's trying to outdo each other. Mel and Jack are on a scavenger hunt for a very personal [thing] — I can't give it away, though — which leads them to all sorts of new and unexpected histories of Virgin River. A few skeletons in the closet."
Following the season five part one finale, there's one storyline in particular, that fans are obsessed with – the identity of Mel Monroe's father. And while we're all in the dark for now, Executive Producer Patrick Sean Smith has dropped a few hints about the mystery man.
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In a recent interview with Glamour, Patrick addressed fan speculation about the possibility of Doc Mullins (Tim Matheson) being Mel's real dad. While Patrick didn't confirm nor deny the rumors, he did seem to hint at the possibility that Mel's dad is a character audiences may have already met. "I think the fun of the two upcoming episodes is looking around and realizing it could be anybody in Virgin River," he said.
While Patrick is keeping his cards close to his chest, he does go on to say that "everybody is a suspect," except for Jack's dad. Phew!