Riverdale season 5 Netflix: UK release date, cast - and what might happen in new season

Riverdale fans will be ecstatic to know that their wait for season five of the show is almost over.

Betty, Archie, Veronica and Jughead - also known as the fab four - are back for a fifth season of the hit teen drama.

Expect more mysteries, romance and a big time jump into the future in the brand new season, which follows on from season four which was cut short by a few episodes due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The finale of the last season left a few things unsolved, so fans will be hoping for some clarity when season five drops on Netflix.

Here’s everything you need to know about Riverdale’s newest season, from the release date and cast to what could happen.

When will Riverdale season five be out?

Riverdale season five will premier in the US on The CW on 20 January - but UK fans will have only one more day to wait.

It will be available on Netflix UK on the morning of Thursday 21 January.

New episodes of the popular drama usually drop on the streaming platform at 8am GMT.

Who are the cast?

Viewers will be pleased to know that the show’s beloved main characters, Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes), and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) will return for season five.

Fellow students Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), Toni (Vanessa Morgan), Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) and Reggie Mantle (Charles Melton) should also be returning for the brand new series.

Drew Ray Tanner, who plays Fangs Fogarty, becomes a series regular in season five.

There will be some new faces this season, with Erinn Westbrook playing Tabitha Tate, the granddaughter of Alvin Sanders' Pop Tate.

Broadchurch star Christ Mason is also new to the cast, playing Chad Gekko, the Wall Street, alpha male husband of Veronica Lodge.

What could happen in season five?

Despite production of last season being cut short due to Covid-19, this season picks up right where viewers left off.

The first episode, one of three left over from season four, will see the gang head to their high school prom, and the first clip of this can be seen in the latest trailer.

The trailer hints that a few fights may break out at prom, while Veronica could discover Betty and Archie’s season four kiss.

And a poster for the upcoming season hints at the potential resurrection of a character that has already died.

Later in the season, the foursome will graduate, before fast-forwarding seven years in a massive shake-up to the show’s plot.

It will then follow the grown-up lives they lead after attending university.

Speaking about the time jump, creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa explained to Entertainment Tonight: "Since all of our characters would be going to different colleges, my instinct has been to leapfrog over four years, and kind of pick up with everyone there."

Lili Reinhart also confirmed the time hop during an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, explaining: “We’re actually doing a seven-year time jump into the future so we’re not going to be teenagers anymore.

“I’m really psyched about it. I think it will be really nice to play an adult. But I also really appreciate that Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa], our showrunner, said let’s revamp. So we’re not just stuck in high school for seven seasons.”

Vanessa Morgan's character Toni has also been given a pregnancy storyline, as she is expecting a child herself.