Netflix have confirmed Orange is the New Black is returning to UK television screens for a third season this summer - but one notable character will be missing.
The new series, set to air on the internet streaming service on June 12, will feature Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) and Alex Vause (Laura Prepon) as they rekindle their romance, but the show's most-loathed character, Piper's estranged boyfriend Larry Bloom (Jason Biggs), will not be returning.
Netflix announced the season three release date with a picture on their Twitter account.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Turning up the heat! New originals coming this summer from <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Netflix?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-88996-https://twitter.com/hashtag/Netflix?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#Netflix</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&id=222025&p=http://t.co/SNfn6LGSoO" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-88996-http://t.co/SNfn6LGSoO" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/SNfn6LGSoO</a>— Netflix US (@netflix) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/netflix/status/572487031722414080" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-88996-https://twitter.com/netflix/status/572487031722414080" data-vars-event-id="c23">March 2, 2015</a>
Piper's prison inmates Red (Kate Mulgrew), Nicky (Natasha Lyonne), Taystee (Danielle Brooks), Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning), Morello (Yael Stone) and Gloria Mendoza (Selenis Leyva) are all confirmed cast members.
One of the show's most popular actresses Uzo Aduba, who plays Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren, revealed her excitement with a post on her Instagram account.
She posted: "June 12th! #oitnb" to her 642,000 followers last night.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="4"><div><div><div /></div><a rel="nofollow" href="https://instagram.com/p/zvT5fGCfOD/" target="_blank" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-88996-https://instagram.com/p/zvT5fGCfOD/" data-vars-event-id="c23">A photo posted by Uzo Aduba (@uzoaduba)</a> on <time datetime="2015-03-02T20:46:18+00:00">Mar 2, 2015 at 12:46pm PST</time></div>
Season three will consist of 14 episodes, an extra one on top of the usual 13 commissioned in the first two series.
