Anne With an E has been cancelled with a c—but Netflix and Canada's national public broadcaster are facing an enormous backlash from fans. The Guardian reports that co-producers Netflix and the CBC have been "besieged" since the announcement in November that the third season of the show, which tells the story of an orphaned teen in 19th-century Prince Edward Island, would be the last. Hundreds of thousands of fans signed petitions calling for the show's revival, billboards went up in Toronto and New York City, and some 13 million tweets about Anne's cancellation were directed at Netflix and the CBC.
On Sunday, the CBC announced that "Anne-related comments" on unrelated stories would be hidden. The tweet was followed by flood of comments from fans demanding a fourth season, CinemaBlend reports. "My sense is that CBC has not dealt with a sustained siege like this before," protest organizer "Rachel G" tells the Guardian. She says part of what inspired such loyalty is the way the show dealt with issues like slavery and sexual assault. "As a woman of color, there’s always been this tension for me watching period dramas," she says. "I feel like Anne With an E really tackled stories of people who have always existed but were ignored by television dramas. And it did so in such a beautiful and sensitive way." (More television stories.)