Heartland is by far the longest-running show on Canadian television. For those who might be unfamiliar with the series, it is about a girl who has a special gift for training horses and her family.
For 15 years, Heartland has been a feel-good show featuring beautiful mountain scenery, lovable characters, and engaging stories.
It is no wonder therefore that Heartland is number one on the “to watch list” of horse lovers around the world. As Season 15 of the show is drawing to an end, fans have already started to wonder about the next chapter of Heartland.
If you have burning questions about Heartland Season 16, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, we bring you the latest news and developments regarding the upcoming season.
Will There Be A Heartland Season 16?
Whether Season 16 will happen or not depends entirely on CBC’s judgment of demand for the series. CBC is the Canadian network that hosts the show and has been funding the development of Heartland from day one.
While the show is still going strong, the recent loss of a key character has made fans doubt its future.
It is not currently known whether there will be a Heartland Season 16. CBC is yet to announce the renewal or cancellation of the series, which is expected a few months after Season 15 finishes airing. However, considering the show’s strong fanbase and high ratings, another season is highly likely.
Annoying as it might be, the Heartland cast and crew might already know what will happen to the show. Shortly after the announcement of Season 15, several cast members have stated they were already aware of the news for a few months. However, as they were bound by contract, they couldn’t reveal the news before the official announcement.
So, when might we hear about a new season of Heartland? While this is hard to tell exactly, CBC might make the announcement as soon as spring 2022. After all, the network didn’t hesitate for long after Season 14 wrapped on March 21 this year and released the news on June 2.
For And Against Heartland Season 16
When estimating the likelihood of a new season, we must consider various aspects. On the one side, fans are still reeling from the death of Ty in Season 14 and many stopped watching the series entirely. And who can blame them?
Up to this point in the series, Heartland was built around the romance of Amy and Ty. Then, just as things finally settled down for the couple, the show took an entirely new direction and continued without Ty.
An outrage of this scale naturally caused declining ratings and questionable reviews on the newer seasons, which is never good news for a TV show.
With that being said, the majority of fans understood the decision behind Ty’s departure and took on the show’s new ideas. Many have expressed their excitement about seeing the Bartlett-Fleming clan move on and build a new life for themselves.
Overall, the show’s ratings and statistics are still positive, as highlighted by an excellent score of 8.4/10 from 14k ratings on IMDb. Therefore, with all things considered, we can safely say that Heartland Season 16 is more likely to happen than not.
Heartland Season 16 Release Date
While a release date for Season 16 is hard to estimate, we can look at the pattern of previous seasons. CBC announced Heartland Season 15 just over two months after Season 14 finished airing in Canada.
The last episode of Season 15 “Leaving a Legacy” is set to air on December 19, 2021, which means the news could be out by spring next year.
On average, the preparations, filming, and post-production of a new season last around six months. With that considered, the earliest Season 16 could reach our screens would be September 2022. This is, of course, the best-case scenario and we cannot be sure that CBC will be so quick or favorable with the announcement.
Heartland Season 16 Cast
It is unlikely that major changes to the Heartland cast will happen in Season 16. With Ty gone and Spartan retired, the show could hardly afford the loss of another major character so soon.
Therefore, we can expect to see Amber Marshall return as Amy Fleming, Michelle Morgan as Lou Fleming, Shaun Johnston as Jack Bartlett, Chris Potter as Tim Fleming, Michelle Nolden as Jessica Cooke, Jessica Steen as Lisa Stillman, and Ruby and Emmanuella Spencer as Lyndy Marion Borden. We’re also likely to see other beloved characters on the screen such as Caleb, Jade, Rick, Parker, Katie, and Peter.
There is, however, one big question mark hanging in the air. Where is Georgie Fleming Morris? Georgie is Lou and Peter’s adopted daughter who has been part of the show since Season 6.
At the end of Season 14, Georgie travels to Florida with her boyfriend Quinn to train with world-class show jumpers at his family’s facility.
In the newest season, Lou makes a few references to Georgie being busy competing. However, the character doesn’t actually appear in the episodes. At the same time, there has been no announcement from the actress or CBC about Georgie departing from the show.
The lack of news about Georgie could mean that Alisha Newton is just taking a temporary break from Heartland. Graham Wardle, who played Ty border on the show, also took smaller breaks from the series in past seasons. Alisha could have wanted to focus on her horses and other shows for a while, as she is definitely still acting according to her Instagram.
What To Expect In Heartland Season 16
As Amber Marshall revealed in Graham Wardle’s Time Has Come podcast, the scripts for Heartland are written two years in advance. While the stories for Season 16 (and 17!!!) are already out there, they will never be revealed ahead of time.
Nevertheless, some storylines are relatively easy to guess from clues given in the last season. From our list of 9 Things That Could Happen in Heartland Season 15, 7/9 assumptions came true. The only storylines we guessed wrong were all about Georgie, who didn’t appear in the new season.
As usual, Season 15 contains several hints at potential new storylines. In Episode 9 “Brand New Day”, a young and handsome farrier told Amy to “take the blinders off” regarding her personal life. This could well be a clue suggesting Amy will find a new romantic partner and fully move on from Ty’s death in Season 16.
Moreover, we can expect younger characters like Lyndy, Katie, and Parker to gain more screen time. The new season could introduce love interests for Katie and Parker, while Lyndy might play a more central role as the future of Heartland.
Assuming that Georgie will return in Season 16, we will doubtless witness her next step towards competing in the Olympics. What’s more, if Quinn is still in the picture, him, and Georgie might take their relationship to the next level.
