The 'Hotel Portofino' Season 3 Trailer Introduces Bella's Papa

Hotel Portofino is PBS' Little Summer Series that Could. The Eagle Eye Drama, their first wholly original live-action period drama, initially debuted with little fanfare in the summer of 2022. As the lead-in for Endeavour's penultimate season, it was an awkward fit, the only non-mystery on the docket, and still clearly finding its feet in how many characters it should follow or where the best drama story was within the many threads. However, the series was already renewed overseas, and though Season 2 was still a mystery lead-in when it arrived in the fall of 2023, the show had built a core fandom via PBS Passport, and with an improved, more focused plot, it was well on its way to being a hit.

Season 3 arrives this summer as a direct follow-up in the 8 p.m. slot to Eagle Eye's other primary hit, Professor T, precisely the same as it did in 2023. But this time, it isn't a lead-in to a more popular mystery series, even though the first two episodes will air ahead of Grantchester's final two episodes of Season 9. Once Grantchester's last two episodes finish, Hotel Portofino will be the sole new program on the national schedule on Sundays through August, an honor rarely bestowed on a series that's not part of the Masterpiece anthology.

What is Hotel Portofino's secret? It turned itself into a family drama, making the Ainsworths' horrendous marriage (and their children's subsequent relationship failures) the program's central story. Season 3 trebles down on this by adding more of Bella's blood relations to the roster. 

Here's the synopsis for Hotel Portofino's third season:

Bella is preparing for her father and sister’s arrival but is thrown off when Cecil appears requesting a divorce. Over the weeks, Bella must decide her future as well as avoid fascist leader Danioni. But with the Wall Street stock market crash, things get worse, and Bella and Cecil lose everything. Dark secrets are exposed during another adventure in this sun-soaked 1920s Italian drama.

The core cast of the series all return for the third season, including Natascha McElhone, Mark Umbers, Oliver Dench, Olivia Morris, Lily Frazer, Daniele Pecci, Louisa Binder, and Pasquale Esposito. Season 3 will also introduce David Schofield (Press) as Bella's father, George Livesey, Camilla Rutherford (A Very British Scandal) as Bella's sister, Amelia Jackson.

Series creator Matt Baker wrote all episodes of Season 3, and director Jon Jones helmed all episodes, taking over from Adam Wimpenny. Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino, aka Walter & Friends, are the same people who brought you Walter Presents and produced it for Eagle Eye Drama.

Hotel Portofino Season 3 premieres Sunday, July 28, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET on most PBS stations and streams on the PBS app and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. PBS Passport members will have access to all six episodes on premiere day to watch as a binge. The series will air/stream weekly on Sundays through the beginning of September. As always, check your local listings.