History sails with Vikings again

US cablenet History has ordered a fourth season of its original drama series Vikings.

Vikings

The A+E Networks-owned cablenet has ordered another run of Michael Hirst’s period drama, which currently has five episodes remaining in its third season.

An Irish/Canadian coproduction from World 2000 and Take 5 Productions, Vikings is averaging 4.3 million viewers in its current season.

The drama follows a young warrior and family man who longs to find and conquer new lands across the sea. Production on the fourth season begins this spring in Ireland.

The series came to History via MGM Television, which handles distribution outside of the US, Ireland and Canada. Vikings is produced in association with Canada’s Shaw Media and the first two seasons of Vikings are available on Canadian VoD service Shomi.

It was part of a new trend of factual drama when it launched two years ago, as channels including Nat Geo (Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln) and History aimed to follow the success of Hatfields & McCoys.

Hirst recently agreed a first-look development deal with A+E Networks’ in-house production outfit A+E Studios.