Virgin River is an American romantic drama television series created by Reel World Management. It was filmed in British Columbia, Canada, and is based on the Virgin River novels by Robyn Carr. The first season began on Netflix on December 6, 2019. In May 2023, before the fourth season started, the show was renewed for a fifth season. The fourth season began on September 7, 2023. The fifth season began on December 19, 2024. In October 2024, before the sixth season started, the series was renewed for a seventh season. In July 2025, before the seventh season began, the show was renewed for an eighth season. The seventh season started on March 12, 2026.

Premise

The story Virgin River follows Melinda "Mel" Monroe, who responds to an advertisement offering a job as a midwife and nurse practitioner in the remote Northern California town of Virgin River. She believes the town will be a good place to begin again and move past difficult experiences, but she soon learns that life in a small town is not as easy as she expected.

Cast

• Alexandra Breckenridge as Melinda "Mel" Monroe Sheridan, a nurse and midwife who moves to Virgin River from Los Angeles, trying to forget bad memories
• Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan, a local bar owner and former U.S. Marine who has PTSD
• Colin Lawrence as John "Preacher" Middleton, a friend who served in the Marines with Jack and works as the chef at Jack's Bar
• Jenny Cooper as Joey Barnes (season 1; guest season 2; recurring season 3–present), Mel's older sister who lives in Los Angeles
• Lauren Hammersley as Charmaine Roberts (seasons 1–4; recurring seasons 5–7), Jack's ex-girlfriend
• Annette O'Toole as Hope McCrea, the mayor of Virgin River and Doc's wife (seasons 1 & 2, 4–present; guest season 3)
• Tim Matheson as Vernon "Doc" Mullins, the local physician and Hope's husband
• Ben Hollingsworth as Dan Brady (season 2–present; recurring season 1), a younger veteran who served in the Marines with Jack and is having trouble adjusting to civilian life
• Grayson Gurnsey as Ricky (seasons 2–4; recurring season 1; guest season 6), a young man who works at Jack's Bar and wants to join the Marines after high school
• Sarah Dugdale as Lizzie (season 2–present),

Production

On September 27, 2018, Netflix announced that it had ordered the first season of a television series based on the Virgin River book series by Robyn Carr. The show’s executive producers were Sue Tenney, Roma Roth, and Chris Perry. Sue Tenney was also named the series’ showrunner, and Reel World Management was the production company involved. On December 20, 2019, Netflix renewed the series for a second season with 10 episodes. On December 18, 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a third season with 10 episodes. On September 20, 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a fourth and fifth season, each with 12 episodes. On July 26, 2022, Patrick Sean Smith replaced Sue Tenney as showrunner. On May 17, 2023, Netflix renewed the series for a sixth season ahead of the fifth-season premiere. On October 23, 2024, Netflix renewed the series for a seventh season with 10 episodes ahead of the sixth-season premiere. The series is reported to be Netflix’s longest-running English-language drama series and longest-running current original scripted series. On July 10, 2025, Netflix renewed the series for an eighth season ahead of the seventh-season premiere.

On December 19, 2018, it was reported that Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Tim Matheson, and Annette O’Toole were cast in main roles. Other actors, including Jenny Cooper, David Cubitt, Lexa Doig, Daniel Gillies, Lauren Hammersley, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Colin Lawrence, Trevor Lerner, and Ian Tracey, joined the cast in unspecified roles. On May 29, 2020, Sarah Dugdale was added to the second season as a main cast member, and Grayson Gurnsey was promoted to a main cast member for the second season. On June 11, 2020, Benjamin Hollingsworth was promoted to a main cast member for the second season. When the third season was renewed, Zibby Allen was cast as a main cast member, and Stacey Farber was cast in a recurring role. On October 25, 2021, Mark Ghanimé and Kai Bradbury joined the cast as main cast members for the fourth season. On September 23, 2024, Jessica Rothe and Callum Kerr were cast in recurring roles for the sixth season. On December 19, 2024, it was confirmed that Mark Ghanimé would not return as a main cast member for the seventh season. On March 13, 2025, Sara Canning and Cody Kearsley joined the cast in recurring roles for the seventh season. On July 14, 2025, Austin Nichols was cast in an unspecified role for the seventh season. On March 12, 2026, it was reported that Marco Grazzini and Lauren Hammersley left the series after the seventh season.

Filming for the first season began on December 3, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Saltspring Island, BC, and ended on March 26, 2019. The series was also filmed in Snug Cove, Bowen Island, New Westminster, Squamish, Agassiz, and Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Filming for the second season started 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 ended on November 21, 2022. Filming for the sixth season started on February 22, 2024, and ended on May 31, 2024. Filming for the seventh season began on March 12, 2025, and ended on June 20, 2025. The eighth season is scheduled to film from April 22, 2026, to August 2026.

The fictional town of Virgin River is based on Snug Cove on Bowen Island. Establishing shots in the series include the local library, main streets, and Artisan Lane. The Watershed Grill in Brackendale, British Columbia, stands in for Jack’s Grill. Some scenes featuring Melinda and Jack were filmed in Squamish, near the river. The waterfalls shown in the series are located in Shannon Falls Provincial Park. Some scenes were filmed in Burnaby at Fraser Foreshore Park and in Port Coquitlam, both near Vancouver. The cabin in the series is the caretaker’s house in Murdo Frazer Park, North Vancouver, which has been used by other productions. 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. The sixth season was released on December 19, 2024. The seventh season was released on March 12, 2026.

Reception

On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, the second season of Virgin River has an approval rating of 90%, with an average score of 6.3 out of 10, based on 10 critic reviews. The website's critics say, "Gentle as a babbling brook—and just as exciting, for better or worse—Virgin River's second season offers more of the relaxing and enjoyable shows that fans have come to like." The third season has an approval rating of 56%, with an average score of 6 out of 10, based on 9 critic reviews. The fourth season has a 100% approval rating, with an average score of 7 out of 10, based on 7 critic reviews. The fifth season has an approval rating of 80%, with an average score of 6.3 out of 10, based on 5 critic reviews.

Prequel

On February 22, 2024, it was announced that a story about Mel's parents, Sarah and Everett, is being created. As of March 2026, the series was still being developed, but it has changed to no longer focus on Mel's parents.