Cult thriller series The Following returns to Netflix after eight year break

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Source: metro.co.uk
Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Outerbanks Entertainment/Wb Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5885796ad) Kevin Bacon The Following - 2012 Outerbanks Entertainment/WB TV USA Television Tv Classics
There’s no shortage of new TV shows coming to Netflix in 2026 with hot thrillers, big new dramas and a smattering of returning favourites set to have us all glued to our tellies over the next 12 months. But just as shiny new content arrives on the streaming platform on a weekly basis, so too do some older shows we might just have forgotten about – or never seen to begin with. And one such show which may have slipped under your radar is The Following, which is back on Netflix tomorrow after an eight-year absence. But what’s it all about and why should you add it to your watchlist? (Picture: Outerbanks Entertainment/Wb Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. No Book Cover Usage. TM & copyright 20th Century Fox No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only No Book or TV usage without prior permission from Rex. Mandatory Credit: Photo by 20thCentFox/Everett/Shutterstock (4793507h) Jessica Stroup, Kevin Bacon in 'Dead or Alive/The Reckoning' (Season 3, Episodes 14 and 15) The Following - 2015
Originally airing on Fox for three seasons from 2013 until 2015, The Following was created by Kevin Williamson – the brains behind the Scream film franchise as well as Dawson’s Creek, The Vampire Diaries and 2025’s The Waterfront. The series stars Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy, a troubled former FBI agent who is called back into action when Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), a serial killer he caught years earlier, escapes from death row. (Picture: 20thCentFox/ Everett/Shutterstock)
Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Outerbanks Entertainment/Wb Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5885796ba) Kevin Bacon, Shawn Ashmore The Following - 2012 Outerbanks Entertainment/WB TV USA Television Tv Classics
Carroll, a former English professor and novelist obsessed with the work of Edgar Allan Poe, murdered 14 women before being caught. Now he’s out for revenge on Hardy but with the added complication that he’s amassed a collective of dedicated followers while he’s been behind bars. And they’re willing to do anything – even commit murder or sacrifice themselves – to help him achieve his aims. (Picture: Outerbanks Entertainment/Wb Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Outerbanks Entertainment/Wb Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5885796au) James Purefoy, Kevin Bacon The Following - 2012 Outerbanks Entertainment/WB TV USA Television Tv Classics
The story gradually develops across the seasons, with the first season also revealing more of Carroll’s motives, including his desire to be reunited with his wife. Season two takes the story to new levels with the emergence of a new cult of followers, while the final season brings Hardy into contact with a new case even as Carroll’s influence continues to make itself known. (Picture: Outerbanks Entertainment/Wb Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Editorial use only Mandatory Credit: Photo by 20th Century Fox/Everett/Shutterstock (4550253l) Zuleikha Robinson, Kevin Bacon, 'New Blood', (Season 3, ep. 01) 'The Following' TV series - 2015
As well as Purefoy, Bacon is joined in the cast by the likes of Natalie Zea, Maggie Grace, Shawn Ashmore, Connie Nielsen and Zuleikha Robinson (pictured). While it might be a compelling watch, the show is pretty dark and twisted at times, with the website Comic Book calling it ‘very violent and frightening’ and adding: ‘There is no humour to soften the violence and terror of this series.’ (Picture: Century Fox/Everett/Shutterstock)
Editorial use only Mandatory Credit: Photo by 20thC.Fox/Everett/Shutterstock (3710964k) The Following - Season 2, Episode 11, Sprague Grayden 'The Following' TV series - 2014
It has also picked up some decent reviews along the way. Vogue called the pilot ‘genuinely suspenseful’ adding: ‘I couldn’t wait to see more,’ while the Chicago Sun-Times said: ‘The story isn’t brilliant or all that sophisticated, but the scripts are stocked with enough clever twists and turns to keep you guessing.’ Meanwhile there were some similarly enthusiastic reactions from viewers, with Allen P saying: ‘Probably my favourite show of all time!’ Another, anonymous viewer added: ‘Best series I have seen for years.’ (Picture: 20thC.Fox/Everett/Shutterstock)

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Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Everett/Shutterstock (3643263d) Kevin Bacon The Following Season 2 - 2014
The show is returning to Netflix as part of a deal between the streaming platform and Warner Bros Discovery – one which has also seen the return of shows including Absentia and The West Wing. Bacon, who found fame on the big screen in the likes of Footloose, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, JFK and Tremors, previously revealed he was attracted to the small screen by its ever-increasing quality. ‘I found myself really knocked out by so many shows,’ he told CNN ahead of The Following’s premiere in January 2013. (Picture: Everett/Shutterstock)
Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Outerbanks Entertainment/Wb Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5885796av) Kevin Bacon, Susan Misner The Following - 2012 Outerbanks Entertainment/WB TV USA Television Tv Classics
‘We are making a thriller, and it’s a tense, fast-paced, exciting thriller that has a lot of moments that are a real surprise, and that’s really what hit me when I was reading the script. I honestly wasn’t even looking for something on network TV. I found it to be such a page-turner.’ (Picture: Outerbanks Entertainment/Wb Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

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