Netflix cancels Away after just one season

Away launched on Netflix just last month, but already the streaming giant has decided not to give a second season the go-ahead, as reported by Deadline.

The ten-part series follows astronaut Emma Green (Swank) on a three-year-long journey to Mars. From the start, the trip is rocked by disaster, and Green deals with leaving behind her husband and son on planet Earth.

We don’t yet know a whole lot more as to why Away has been cancelled, especially since it seemed to be a popular property for Netflix. The series hit the second spot of the Nielsen ratings system, and occupied the top ten for multiple weeks.

What we do know is that Netflix weighs up how many viewers a film or TV show pulls in against how much it costs to make. A sci-fi series of this magnitude, with Hilary Swank in a starring role, definitely suggests a budget in the ‘high’ range.

To the frustration of many of us, Netflix has developed a bit of a reputation for cancelling their originals – this year, the streamer gave The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, GLOW, The Dark Crystal, and more the axe.

One series that has proven to be enough of a success to score another instalment is Ratched, Evan Romansky and Ryan Murphy’s prequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Netflix ordered two seasons of this show from the start – a venture which seems to have paid off with their claim that a massive 48 million users watched the series in its first 28 days.

If the news of Away’s cancellation has you craving a trip to outer space, check out our list of the 30 best sci-fi movies of all time and the best Netflix shows to watch right now.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.