Rick and Morty season 4's UK airdate has been brought forward to November

rick and morty season 4
(Image credit: Adult Swim)

Update: E4 has listened to the feedback to the original 2020 airdate for Rick and Morty season 4 and has brought the premiere forward to November 20 on E4. It'll air at 10PM. Complaining: sometimes it works! 

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Original story: Rick and Morty season 4 has finally been given a UK air date on Channel 4, but the news isn't great: UK viewers won't be watching the show until 2020. In the US, it'll start airing on Adult Swim from November, but in the UK, it'll begin in January at some point. It's a move that feels a little similar to how US TV used to be imported to the UK before the advent of streaming services. 

The season will be divided into two parts, each consisting five episodes, Channel 4 says, mirroring how it's being aired in the US (five will air in 2019, then five more will air in 2020). So, even though you've been waiting two years for more of Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland's inventive and frequently gross animated sci-fi series, you've still got a little while to go. The show will first air on Channel 4 itself, with repeats on E4. You'll be able to stream it on All4 too, of course. 

"Millions of fans have been waiting for more than two years for a new series of Rick and Morty, the most brilliantly bonkers show on television," says Ian Katz, Channel 4's Director of Programmes. "We’re thrilled that it will be aired exclusively on Channel 4 and I promise it will be worth the wait."

Channel hopping

Channel 4 has a larger deal to distribute a big chunk of Adult Swim's back catalogue on All4, and it's worth dipping in if you've never sampled its varied output of animated and live-action comedy. If you want to catch up on Rick and Morty specifically because you've somehow missed it up to this point, you can find the first three seasons of Rick and Morty ad-free on Netflix UK. 

Rick and Morty's last official trailer came a month ago. Check it out below. 

Samuel Roberts

Samuel is a PR Manager at game developer Frontier. Formerly TechRadar's Senior Entertainment Editor, he's an expert in Marvel, Star Wars, Netflix shows and general streaming stuff. Before his stint at TechRadar, he spent six years at PC Gamer. Samuel is also the co-host of the popular Back Page podcast, in which he details the trials and tribulations of being a games magazine editor – and attempts to justify his impulsive eBay games buying binges.