Picture Credit: Channel 4 / Netflix
Before she took the world by storm with Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge created, wrote, and starred in the chaotic, hilarious comedy series Crashing (not to be confused with the HBO show of the same name). Now, after a decade of streaming, the “forgotten” Netflix Original is set to depart the service globally on September 1st.
If you load up Crashing on Netflix right now, you’ll be met with a removal notice indicating that your last day to watch the series is August 31st, 2026, with its actual removal scheduled for midnight on September 1st. This applies to all regions with the exception of the UK, which already saw the series leave back in October 2023.
Released back in 2016, Crashing is a brilliant six-part British comedy that follows a group of twenty-somethings living together as property guardians in a massive, disused London hospital. The arrangement keeps their rent cheap, but living in a creepy, rundown building with a bunch of eccentric roommates naturally leads to a mountain of sexual tension, personal drama, and laugh-out-loud chaos.
Alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the series notably stars a pre-Bridgerton Jonathan Bailey, Damien Molony (Brassic), Louise Ford (The Windsors), and Amit Shah (Happy Valley).
It’s only a single season, but that’s the way it was designed to be so if you’re worried about diving in and leaving with loose-ends, you won’t!
Why is a Netflix Original leaving?
If you’re wondering why a show carrying the red “N” Netflix Original branding is being removed, it all comes down to the fine print of international distribution deals. We’ve got more on this here.
Crashing wasn’t actually produced by Netflix. The series was originally commissioned by and broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom back in early 2016. Shortly after its UK broadcast, Netflix swooped in and acquired the exclusive international streaming rights, slapping the Netflix Original branding on it for audiences outside the UK.
However, as we’ve seen time and time again with shows like The Great British Baking Show, Peaky Blinders, and Lilyhammer, “Original” doesn’t mean Netflix owns it forever. Exclusive streaming rights for third-party acquisitions are usually locked in for a fixed term—often 10 years. With the show debuting on Netflix in 2016, that 10-year clock has officially run out. While they can be renewed last minute, see Lillyhammer or Arrested Development, many (hundreds in fact) don’t.
Once the clock strikes midnight on September 1st, the streaming rights will revert back to Channel 4 and its distributors. Where it lands next in international regions is anyone’s guess, but given Waller-Bridge’s massive overall deal with Amazon, it wouldn’t be surprising to eventually see it pop up somewhere.
If you haven’t watched Crashing yet, or just want to revisit it, you have just under a month left to do so. Luckily, at only six episodes clocking in at around 23 minutes each, it’s an incredibly easy binge that you can knock out in a single evening.
Will you be checking out Crashing before it leaves Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below!
