History channels on both sides of the border on Thursday said they have renewed Vikings for a fourth season.

The Canada-Ireland coproduction, created and written by Michael Hirst (The Tudors, Elizabeth), will shoot an unspecified number of new episodes in the spring on location in Ireland.

A History Canada spokesman said details on the fourth season, including the number of episodes, are still to come.

The latest series renewal comes five episodes into the current third season, which is set for a finale on April 23. ^.

The first four episodes of season three on History Canada secured an average 895,000 total viewers, and 428,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo.

The U.S. History channel also reported impressive ratings for its own Thursday night airdate through the first half of the third season.

Vikings portrays epic warriors in the Dark Ages and stars Travis Fimmel, Clive Standen and Katheryn Winnick.

From Playback Daily