Realizing it’s got a good thing going after somehow stumbling into one of the better-regarded pulp dramas on cable despite being, well, The History Channel, the network in question has announced that it’s renewing Vikings for a fifth season of Ragnars, Rollos, and rampaging Lagerthas. The show will come back for 20 new episodes next year, the better to break up all those endless reruns of Pawn Stars and whatever Craig Ferguson’s up to these days, which normally flood the network’s non-Norse scheduling.
And because you can’t have a historical drama on TV without eventually inviting Jonathan Rhys Meyers to come glare, all gaunt and beautiful, at the rest of the cast, History has also announced that the former Dracula star has just been added to the show. Appearing alongside returning cast members Travis Fimmel, Gustaf Skarsgård, and Katheryn Winnick, the move reunites Meyers with creator Michael Hirst, who also served as showrunner on the actor’s breakout Showtime series The Tudors. It’ll also represent Meyers’ second recent project with History (the capitol H version, not just the regular, boring kind where 90 percent of his roles take place); he also co-stars in the network’s upcoming miniseries remake of Alex Haley’s Roots.