Homeland has officially been picked up for a second season by Showtime.
The cable network has ordered an additional 12 episodes of the drama series, which stars Damian Lewis and Claire Danes. Danes plays Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer who becomes convinced that former prisoner of war Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) has been turned by terrorists and is key to an upcoming attack on U.S soil.
"Homeland is just getting started," said Showtime's president of entertainment David Nevins. "Clearly, the overall audience growth from week one to week four demonstrates that this show is hitting a nerve in the cultural zeitgeist." He continued: "[Series co-creators] Alex [Gansa] and Howard [Gordon] have created a psychological thriller that holds special relevance in the post 9/11 world. I'm quite confident that its passionate audience will be riveted as the season unfolds and people discover where this story is going."
Homeland debuted to 1.08m viewers and viewership has continued to rise, with the most recent fourth episode pulling in 1.1m. Whilst the numbers in of themselves are not large, the episode of Dexter that aired immediately prior to the fourth episode picked up just 0.8 million more viewers despite the show being in its sixth season and with a much deeper fan base.
Production on season two is set to commence in spring 2012.