'Professor T' Season 4 Lands Early Release on PBS Passport

Ben Miller as Professor Tempest in 'Professor T' Season 4
Eagle Eye Drama/Laurence Cendrowicz
Watching a sleeper hit become one of the most popular British shows that airs on PBS always feels a bit miraculous, like seeing a full double rainbow or a meteor shooting across the sky. That goes double if the first season of the show wasn't all that great, or something you didn't like very much. Over the past decade, it's happened to me twice: Unforgotten Season 1's failure to stick the landing seemed like a death knell for the series, but was blessedly negated by Season 2's pitch-perfect conclusion. The other is Professor T, which has become so popular that it's getting the honor of an early release on PBS Passport for August 2025.
Few PBS shows get the honor of an "early binge release" for members. Though streaming is eclipsing cable, many local PBS stations are still "linear first," especially in rural areas, so something has to be really popular for PBS to make it an early release streaming benefit for members. Thus far, Call The Midwife, Sanditon, and Miss Scarlet are the only British shows to land early release more than once. Annika streamed its inaugural season early, in hopes Unforgotten fans would find it. On the other end, COBRA's final season landed early release because the schedule was so crowded, it wound up airing on Thursdays, and PBS was worried it'd get lost.
But Professor T's early release is not a one-off. The U.K. version of the show has already been renewed for Season 5, making it the longest-running version of Professor T in history. (That's going by season, not episode count!) Meanwhile, viewership in the U.S. has risen year on year, and with Season 3's shocking twist ending, fans have been rabid to find out what happens next.
Depending on how this season ends, we'll have to see if early release will be in the cards for Season 5 in 2026. Until then, enjoy the first images for Season 4.
Here is the synopsis for Season 4:
Set against the stunning backdrop of one of the most prestigious of educational institutions, Cambridge University, Professor T Season 4 returns six months after the shocking finale of Season 3, and the team must overcome their grief to tackle a dangerous crime wave. This time, the gloves are well and truly off for Professor T in his lectures and a new musical pursuit, romance is very much alive for his mother Adelaide Tempest, and the lines between professional and personal become blurred for therapist Helena Goldberg.
Ben Miller (Death in Paradise) will, of course, be back as the titular Jasper Tempest, along with Frances de la Tour (Enola Holmes) as Adelaide Tempest, Juliet Stevenson (The Long Call) as Dr. Helena Goldberg, Barney White (Masters of The Air) as the now-promoted DI Dan Winters, and Sunetra Sarker (Playing Nice) as DCI Maiya Goswami.
Season 4 will also introduce Rhian Blundell (Torchwood) as DS Chloe Highsmith, filling the space left open by the exit of Emma Naomi (Bridgerton) as DS Lisa Donckers, who was killed off at the end of Season 3.
Belgian helmers Joel Vanhoebrouck and Kaat Beels (Hotel Beau Séjour) split helming duties across Season 4's six episodes, with Stephen Brady returning to pen all episodes after taking over the series from original scribe Matt Baker in Season 3. Eagle Eye co-founders Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino return as executive producers.
Professor T Season 4 will debut with all six episodes as an early release binge for members on PBS Passport on Sunday, August 10, 2025. Season 4 will premiere for everyone else alongside the linear debut at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 24, 2025, ahead of the premieres of The Marlow Murder Club Season 2 at 9 p.m. and Unforgotten Season 6 at 10 p.m., on most PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. All three series will air and stream weekly through the end of September. As always, check your local streaming service/listings.
Seasons 1 through 3 of the U.K. version of Professor T are available to stream on PBS Passport for members, along with all three seasons of the Belgian version.