Finally, the potentially very bad news, which you may not have heard. There could be a spin-off.

Creator Jesse Armstrong, formerly one half of the twisted imagination behind Peep Show, told The New Yorker he feels he could take one or more of the Machiavellian characters in a new series set in an “allied world”, perhaps featuring occasional guest appearances by other faces from Succession.

It was Armstrong’s choice alone to end the series now, while it’s at the top of its game, rather than run the risk of it outstaying its welcome. Yet, he said he still feels “conflicted” about his decision. It appears he’s not quite ready to say goodbye to the dysfunctional Roy clan forever.

Revealing that he knew from around the second season when and how Succession should end, he said: “The feeling there could be something else in an allied world, or allied characters, or some of the same characters — that’s also strong in me. Maybe there’s another part of this world we could come back to, if there was an appetite.”

Unfortunately for Armstrong, there doesn’t appear to be much of an appetite at HBO, which produces Succession.

When asked by Hollywood bible Variety about the likelihood of a spin-off, HBO boss Casey Bloys said: “I don’t think so. It doesn’t seem to me that there’s something in Succession where you would go, ‘Let’s follow just this kid’ or whatever.”

Bloys didn’t rule it out entirely, offering a lukewarm “never say never” and adding that if Armstrong had a proposal, he’d certainly listen to it. It still sounded like an emphatic “No thanks”, though.

Showman PT Barnum’s maxim was: “Always leave them wanting more.” This doesn’t automatically mean you should give them more.

HBO, unlike some major American broadcasters, has mostly resisted the urge to make spin-offs.

The only one so far to get the green light is the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, which, whatever its fans may say, is basically more of the same wine in a different bottle with a different label.

In fact, the series feels as much like an apology to the audience for mucking up the final season of Game of Thrones as anything else.

I’m on HBO’s side when it comes to a Succession spin-off. It seems like a terrible idea. It’s difficult to imagine it living up to the original and it could well tarnish the reputation of television’s greatest satirical comedy-drama.

It’s not that spin-offs never work; sometimes they work spectacularly well. By the end of Better Call Saul, an unlikely-sounding prospect when first announced, it was generally regarded as the equal of the series that spawned it, Breaking Bad. It might even be (slightly) better.

But it worked because Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill was very much a secondary character in Breaking Bad, just as Frasier Crane was a secondary character in Cheers before being spun-off into Frasier.

Guest stars aside, Succession doesn’t really have any secondary characters. It’s the ultimate ensemble series. Logan, Shiv, Roman, Kendall, Tom, Connor and Greg — every last one of them is a vital ingredient in a delicious, perfectly mixed cocktail.

The ill-advised Friends spin-off Joey should be a lesson to Armstrong in how amputating a character from a beloved ensemble and expecting them to thrive on their own can fail disastrously.

Interestingly, in an interview with ew.com as far back in December, 2021, the wonderful Matthew Macfadyen and Nicholas Braun, who play Tom and Greg, who’ve bungled their way to being Succession’s unlikeliest power couple, joked around about the characters starring in their own spin-off series. Could this be what planted a seed in Armstrong’s head?

I’m looking forward to seeing the Roys tear one another apart again one final time. But once Succession is over, let them rest in pieces.

​Succession Season 4 starts on Sky Atlantic on March 27 at 2am and is repeated at 9pm