History has ordered a sixth season of drama series Vikings. There will be 20 episodes in the season. Production starts this fall in Ireland.
The 20-episode fifth season will air in two parts, starting with a two-hour premiere Nov. 29, followed by eight episodes airing on Wednesdays. The remaining 10 episodes of Vikings' season five will air in 2018.
“Vikings has creatively sailed to monumental lengths. The series has evolved from early raids in England, to the heart-stopping death of Ragnar Lothbrok, to the fierce battles of the Great Heathen Army, and now we’ll see the sons of Ragnar exploring and conquering the known world,” said Eli Lehrer, executive VP of programming. “[Creator] Michael Hirst has only scratched the surface of his epic saga. We look forward to continuing our partnership with one of the greatest writers in this era of Peak TV and entertaining our viewers with 40 new episodes over the next two seasons.”
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Vikings averaged 7.8 million viewers per episode, according to History.
“It has been my pleasure and my privilege to work with History and our partner MGM over five seasons and 69 episodes of Vikings,” said Michael Hirst, creator and executive producer. “Now we are ready to begin production of a 20-episode season six that will deliver a huge and unexpected revelation to our audience.
There are many reasons why I love this show, not least for the commitment and creativity of everyone involved in making it, but perhaps even more important is the spirit that drives this production — one of the happiest, most collaborative and most authentic productions I have ever been involved with. And so we sail on.”
Vikings depicts the lives and epic adventures of the raiders and explorers of the Dark Ages. Season five cast includes series regulars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Katheryn Winnick, Gustaf Skarsgård, Alexander Ludwig and Alex Høgh Andersen.
Winnick will direct one episode in season six, marking her directorial debut.
The series’ executive producers are Hirst, Morgan O’Sullivan of World 2000, Sheila Hockin, John Weber of Take 5 Productions, Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer and James Flynn. Arturo Interian is the executive in charge of production for History.
Vikings is an Irish/Canadian co-production by World 2000 and Take 5 Productions. MGM Television is the worldwide distributor outside of Ireland and Canada. The show is produced in association with Corus Entertainment.
