The Light in the Hall season 2: Could the haunting drama return and what does the finale mean for Joe and Sharon?

The Light in the Hall season 2 is something many fans of the intense Channel 4 drama might well be hoping for if they’ve already made their way to that heart-wrenching finale.

Following grieving mother Sharon, convicted murderer Joe and determined journalist Cat, The Light in the Hall is a tale of the quest for answers and an unwavering hope for closure. And whilst the Channel 4 drama is still airing, anyone who couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Ela Roberts 18 years ago might well have raced through to the finale on All 4. If you have then you might be wondering what The Light in the Hall ending suggests about the future of the show and if it’s possible it could be back.

But could there be The Light in the Hall season 2, where did the finale leave things for Joe and Sharon and what does Cat’s cryptic comment suggest might happen if the show returns? We reveal what we know and predict about the drama’s future…

*Warning: Major Spoilers ahead!*

Will there be The Light in the Hall season 2? 

Fans hoping against hope that the finale wasn’t the last you’ll see of Sharon, Joe and Cat then you’re probably not alone but sadly there’s been no official confirmation of a The Light in the Hall season 2. Of course, this might not signal the end of the dual language drama. The Tourist season 2 is now happening despite initially being a limited series, as is The Watcher. 

But if episode 6 hinted at anything it’s that any potential The Light in the Hall season 2 would have to be very different and that a follow-up is perhaps unlikely. The entire premise of the Channel 4 drama was the lack of answers surrounding what really happened to Ela Roberts 18 years earlier. 

Her mother Sharon was tormented by not knowing - as well as how they left things the last time she saw her - whilst her former friend-turned-journalist Cat was equally eager to get to the truth. Initially, of course, this was because she had her eye on a life-changing and career-building story, but ultimately it became a way of assuaging her guilt for a falling out and genuinely giving people closure. 

Meanwhile, Joe Pritchard spent almost two decades behind bars for Ela’s murder genuinely believing he’d done it all these years, with Sharon thinking he was deliberately keeping her daughter's whereabouts from her. In reality, he was merely unable to give it to her because he hadn’t hidden or disposed of her body at all. 

By the end of The Light in the Hall, though, this central theme and the mystery surrounding it has been solved. Ela’s secret girlfriend Izzy has been forced to admit that she was the one who’d accidentally caused her death.

She also confessed that her mother Nina and Joe’s father Wyn had not only known all along but had actively encouraged her to keep quiet and let the gardener take the blame. After the revelations brought the world as they knew it crumbling down, Sharon got the closure she’d been looking for when a discovery was made. Ela’s body was finally found and Sharon and her younger daughter Greta visit her grave in the finale.

“Beloved Daughter and Sister home at last”, it read, rounding off the series with a definite sense that this story as we know it is over. Sharon even finally turned off the titular light in the hall.

Where did the finale leave Joe and Sharon? 

If The Light in the Hall season 2 is announced, then it might be seen as incredibly unlikely it will pick up with Sharon and Joe as lead characters. Although they’ve begun to move on with their lives now that they’ve both got closure and there is more that could be shown, their main journey was resolved. In the closing stages of the final episode, fans saw Joe finally sit down with Sharon after all they’d been through and after all the years they both believed he’d killed Ela.

Cat had urged him to meet Sharon and they were shown having a coffee together with her talking earnestly. But according to The Light in the Hall creator Regina Moriarty, it’s unlikely to go much beyond this one meeting for them. 

She explained to Metro.co.uk, “I feel that even though it was a small moment, anything bigger than that would have felt a bit phony and it took so much for them to get to that one small moment. I suppose in my imagination, I like to think that they probably parted ways with some sort of sense of resolution or the beginning of some healing process happening, but I don’t think they’ll be hanging out.”

“It was quite a lot for them to get to that point. But I imagine them probably going off in their separate own ways,” Regina added. 

As the creator’s own words suggest that Joe and Sharon aren’t going to be sticking around each other or “hanging out” and with the mystery that connected them solved, if fan and critical reaction does spark a renewal, it seems that they might not have a place in new episodes. 

What might happen in The Light in the Hall season 2? 

By the end of The Light in the Hall, Sharon has brought Ela home, Joe has a chance to start afresh knowing he wasn’t guilty and Cat has found her true calling. And it’s this last point which could perhaps be the strongest clue that whilst The Light in the Hall season 2 is unlikely, it’s certainly possible.

Cat’s words to Joe in the sweeping Welsh countryside after the truth came out lay the groundwork for an alternative direction for a possible The Light in the Hall season 2. 

Asked what she will do now, the journalist responded, “I can’t go back to what I was doing before. It’s ironic really that I’ve had to come back to Llanemlyn to understand what I was supposed to be doing.”

“If I can help people find answers by shedding a bit of light on things then that’s what I want to do,” Cat told the former gardener. 

Although not confirmed, it seems like Cat has got a taste for investigative work, whether as a journalist or as some kind of private investigator. Either way, she’s switched her focus and is actively looking to get involved in cases where she feels she could give people answers and help them move past their trauma like she did for Sharon. 

Her final narration also focuses on the idea of there being several sides to every story as she says, “In looking for the answers I’ve come to understand that we all see events through the lens of our own memories and experiences and that we all have our versions of the past. That we all have our own story to tell.” 

Putting these two things together, if there is a The Light in the Hall season 2 it might make sense to follow Cat as she helps investigate another crime or missing person’s case. Instead of the Roberts family, there could possibly be a whole new set of characters that she’s trying to help. As a dual language show it would also likely remain set in Wales. 

This avenue seems to be open if the demand was enough for The Light in the Hall season 2 to be announced, though Cat’s closing narration also makes for a poignant end to round-off this incredibly heart-wrenching drama. 

How many episodes of The Light In the Hall season 1?

There are six episodes in The Light in the Hall season 1 and all of them are available to watch now on All 4 - Channel 4's on-demand streaming platform. For anyone who would prefer to have the suspense built up weekly, then episodes are also airing on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9pm on Channel 4. The Light in the Hall finale is set to air on Thursday, January 19.