We will remember 2020 for many things, and we’ve all suffered the consequences of lockdown and other restrictions. While the TV and film industry has had to delay all in-train production and change working practices, it makes a change to see it’s not been all bad news for everybody, particularly the team behind Stranger Things Season 4.

As we reported back in July, filming was delayed until September and actually commenced (according to twitter) in October. We’ve no news of release dates, but at least production has started. In talking to Collider about his Christmas Netflix project Dash and Lily (due in November), Shawn Levy has this to say about Stranger Things Season 4:

“I’ll just say the pandemic definitely massively delayed shooting and therefore the launch of our current Season 4, date still TBD. But it impacted very positively by allowing the Duffer brothers, for the first time ever, to write the entire season before we shoot it and to have time to rewrite in a way that they rarely had before so the quality of these screenplays are exceptional, maybe better than ever.”

While we admire the way US companies construct their TV series, it is sometimes possible to look back from the finale and see the odd loose end that might have been snipped had the producers the luxury of considering the season as a whole. We can only how imagine just how good a more polished season of Stranger Things will be.

We also wonder just what is happening with Police Chief Hopper (David Harbour) back from the dead and we see the action is now focussed on Russia (see the official trailer). If you want to know why David Harbour’s character may be a lot like Gandalf, you might want to read his exclusive interview for Total Film. It certainly gave us even more respect for the work the show creators have put in over the years.

While we wait for Stranger Things return, at least we can look forward to Shawn Levy’s Dash and Lily giving us some seasonal cheer. The official trailer is here: Dash & Lily | Official Trailer.