)
Last stop Hawkins: Stranger Things 5 is here
)
Everything ends in Hawkins in the long-awaited TV event of the year. Read on for all you need to know about the new season, plus take our quiz to see if you’re the ultimate Stranger Things fan
By Charlotte Briggs, Feature Writer
- Published
- 26 November 2025
We always knew that this moment would come. After four seasons, 12 Emmy awards and countless battles with forces of monstrous evil, Stranger Things is back for its fifth and final chapter.
As the gang gears up for one last showdown with the monstrous Vecna, here’s your recap on the record-breaking show so far, who and what we’re going to see in the new season and what to expect from the upcoming Stranger Things spin-off from the Duffer brothers. Sitting comfortably? Let’s dive in…
What will happen in Stranger Things 5?
The final season is set in the fall of 1987 after the devastating events of the fourth season (more on that later) and things aren’t looking great for our heroes. They know that as long as Vecna is alive, Hawkins – and the wider world – will be in danger, but the problem is they don’t know how to find him. And there are more immediate problems, like the town being under military quarantine and the government intensifying its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding.
Vecna won’t stop, and if the government and the military can’t be trusted to understand what’s happening, the heroes of Hawkins know they’ll have to face him themselves. The final battle is looming – and with it comes the threat of a darkness more powerful than anything that’s come before. To end this nightmare, everyone must stand together, one last time.
Who’s starring in Stranger Things 5?
)
Along with returning favourites Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Joyce (Winona Ryder), there are a few new faces in town. Joining the chaos are screen royalty Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) as Dr Kay, Nell Fisher (Evil Dead Rise) as Mike and Nancy’s younger sister Holly, and newcomer Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbow.
Meanwhile, Broadway’s Stranger Things: The First Shadow star Alex Breaux, who plays Dr Brenner in the multi-awarding-winning stage adaptation, will be swapping the theatre for TV as Lieutenant Akers. While these new characters’ roles in the show are being kept tightly under wraps, we can’t wait to see how they’re involved as Hawkins faces the ultimate threat.
Eleven – Millie Bobby Brown
Mike Wheeler – Finn Wolfhard
Will Byers – Noah Schnapp
Dustin Henderson – Gaten Matarazzo
Lucas Sinclair – Caleb McLaughlin
Max Mayfield – Sadie Sink
Joyce Byers – Winona Ryder
Jim Hopper – David Harbour
Nancy Wheeler – Natalia Dyer
Jonathan Byers – Charlie Heaton
Steve Harrington – Joe Keery
Robin Buckley – Maya Hawke
Erica Sinclair – Priah Ferguson
Murray Bauman – Brett Gelman
Vecna / Henry Creel / One – Jamie Campbell Bower
Paul Reiser – Dr Sam Owens
Cara Buono – Karen Wheeler
Gabriella Pizzolo – Susie Bingham
Amybeth McNulty – Vickie Dunne
What’s happened in Hawkins so far?
)
While you can stream all four seasons of Stranger Things in Apps > Netflix now, we’ve broken down the show’s biggest moments below since it first hit screens in 2016. Just click on the arrows to expand the season that you want to read about. Warning: spoilers ahead!
The year is 1983 and things are about to take a sinister turn in the sleepy town of Hawkins, Indiana. When Will vanishes on one dark November evening, his friends Mike, Dustin and Lucas set out on a mission to find him with the help of Will’s mother Joyce and Chief of Police Jim Hopper.
Shortly thereafter we meet Eleven, a young girl with psychic abilities who’s been raised inside Hawkins National Laboratory with other child test subjects, and has escaped her captors led by the sinister Dr Brenner. For the next four seasons, Eleven will constantly be on the run from various forms of authority who want to control her telekinetic powers.
Elsewhere in Hawkins, Mike’s older sister Nancy has started dating local heartthrob Steve. But her lovesick antics mean that she misses her best friend Barb getting dragged into the Upside Down, a terrifying alternate dimension that mirrors the human world. Whoops! So Nancy teams up with Will’s older brother Jonathan to find Barb and bring her back home, resulting in the pair getting close and a love triangle is born.
Eleven eventually joins forces with the neighbourhood kids and grown-ups to help rescue Will from the Upside Down, as well as defeating the Demogorgon who abducted him and killed even more victims. But several months after Will’s return to reality, we learn that he’s not quite been able to cut his ties with the Upside Down...
A year on, Will has finally confided in his loved ones about the vivid hallucinations he’s been experiencing since the events of last season. Back at school the boys befriend their new classmate Max, and things are looking brighter for Joyce too as she begins dating her former classmate, Bob.
Unfortunately, the Holland family are still desperately searching for their daughter Barb and hire investigative journalist Murray to find her. Nancy hatches a plan to record Hawkins Lab’s new leader Dr Sam Owens confessing the truth behind Barb’s disappearance and gives her family a watered-down version of events and some closure.
Eleven is residing at Hopper’s cabin in the woods and being kept away from her friends for their own safety. Naturally, she embarks on a one-girl mission to discover the truth about her birth mother and reunites with another test subject from her childhood, before returning to Hawkins to find that Dustin’s new pet Dart is actually a Demogorgon and is determined to destroy the town and everyone in it.
The series ends with the discovery that a Mind Flayer had attached itself to Will in the Upside Down, and only once it leaves his body can Eleven close the gates between these two worlds for good – the cue for an epic battle including Bob’s gut-wrenching sacrifice. Finally, the gang celebrate their victory at a school dance where Hopper officially adopts Eleven. Aw!
Things are about to get gruesome in Hawkins. While the teens navigate summer jobs at the newly built Starcourt Mall, there are bigger problems on the horizon as the Russians have discovered the Upside Down and plan on weaponising it for their own gain.
Elsewhere, remainders of the Mind Flayer have been lying dormant in the town’s steel factory until they claim its first host in the form of Max’s older brother Billy. While possessed by the demon force, he recruits other residents to do the Mind Flayer’s bidding, including his colleague Heather and her parents.
Eleven senses that something isn’t right in Hawkins and she’s not the only resident to notice. Hopper confronts the town’s mayor and discovers the Russians have been monopolising East Hawkins, Nancy and Jonathan’s newspaper internship leads them to another victim of the Mind Flayer, and Dustin intercepts a Russian radio message that leads him to discover their secret base beneath Starcourt Mall.
With the help of Steve, his co-worker Robin and Lucas’s little sister Erica, Dustin guides Joyce, Hopper and Murray through the base to close the new gate to the Upside Down, while the other kids are tasked with protecting Eleven from the goo-tacular Mind Flayer who has now absorbed its human hosts. The Mind Flayer is defeated, the gate is sealed and our heroes save the day, meaning that order is restored to Hawkins (for now).
Satanic panic taking hold of the US in 1986 is the perfect backdrop for the goings-on in Hawkins, especially with a terrifying new monster that’s threatening to end the world. With the Byers family and a now powerless Eleven starting afresh in California, the remaining crew start their high school career by befriending nerdy senior Eddie.
Hopper is alive and being held in a Soviet military prison after he was seized during season 3’s Battle of Starcourt. When Joyce and Murray learn this from prison guard Enzo, they meet Enzo’s US contact Yuri and devise a plan to rescue Hopper. But Enzo is double-crossed by Yuri and if Enzo and Hopper want to avoid being a captured Demogorgon’s next meal, Joyce, Murray and the now subdued Yuri must rescue them and fast.
In Hawkins, terrifying humanoid monster Vecna has transcended the Upside Down and claimed several victims including high school students Chrissy, Fred and Patrick, and he’s got his sights set on his fourth and final victim, Max. With Eleven out of the picture, Nancy investigates who could be responsible for these killings and comes across the Creel family lore, which convinces the gang that Eddie’s being framed for the murders.
Eleven reunites with season 1 villain Dr Brenner to get her powers back and infiltrates Max’s mind to fight Vecna. After they’re both captured and taken to Vecna’s lair, Eleven reveals that she sent him to the Upside Down after his horrifying murder spree at Hawkins Lab years earlier. The two begin an ultimate battle of the minds which tears Hawkins in two, and Eleven and Max barely make it back to their dimension alive. Vecna might have been defeated for now, but it’s soon revealed that the war is far from over.
Will there be a Stranger Things spin-off?
You betcha. Created by Stranger Things masterminds Matt and Ross Duffer, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is scheduled for release in 2026. Taking place between the events of seasons 2 and, the animation follows beloved Eleven, Mike, Will, Lucas Dustin, and Max as they confront new monsters of the Upside Down and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorising their town. You can get a sneak peek here.
When is Stranger Things 5 out?
)
The final season will be released in three parts on Netflix (Apps > Netflix). The first four episodes (Volume 1) will land at 1am on Thursday 27 November, with three more episodes (Volume 2) available on the streamer from Christmas Day, and the finale coming on New Year’s Eve. What a way to end 2025!
Think you’re ready to save the world from unfathomable evil? Then you’re going to need all your smarts about you. Take our ultimate Stranger Things fan quiz below and see if you’re ready to head into battle with Hawkins’ finest.
)
)
)
TV channels: Channels, content and features available depend on your chosen package. Channel line-ups and content are subject to change at any time and to regional variations.
HD: HD TV set, V HD Box, TiVo® box, Virgin TV V6 box, Virgin TV 360 box or Stream box connected with HDMI cables required for HD channels. Number of inclusive HD channels depends on package.
Netflix: Netflix subscription required at extra cost.
Virgin TV 360 Box: Not available with full fibre. Minimum of M50 Fibre Broadband required for operation. Boxes require a HDMI cable to connect to your TV. Catch Up TV: Catch Up TV content available for seven days after broadcast.
Virgin Stream box: Virgin Media broadband required (min. 50 Mbps). Compatible with Hub 3 and above. Stream box requires an HDMI cable connected to TV. HD TV set and a Stream box connected with HDMI cables required for viewing HD channels. Number of inclusive HD channels depends on package. 4K compatible TV/device required to watch Ultra HD. Stream box and remote remain property of Virgin Media.
Flex: Virgin Media broadband required (min. 50 Mbps). Not available with other Virgin Media TV services. Compatible with Hub 3 and above. Stream box requires an HDMI cable connected to TV. HD TV set and a Stream box connected with HDMI cables required for viewing HD channels. Number of inclusive HD channels depends on package. 4K compatible TV/device required to watch Ultra HD. Stream box and remote remain property of Virgin Media. There is a £5 a month charge for Flex service, and a one-off activation fee of £35 may apply, along with charges & terms for each Flex entertainment subscription chosen. Some Flex subscriptions require 30 days’ notice to cancel. New Virgin Media broadband customers subject to 18 month contract and set up fees may apply. See full details.
