Orange Alert

Orange alert! The Department of Homeland Security may have retired its colour-coded terrorism alert system, but the pervading sense of paranoia that it represented isn’t going away, and neither is Showtime’s hit series, “Homeland.” This morning the cable network announced it had ordered an additional dozen episodes of the drama series; a serialized thriller about a dogged if possibly paranoid C.I.A. officer (played by Claire Danes), a recently released American prisoner of war (Damian Lewis) who may be a sleeper agent for Al Qaeda, Morena Baccarin's epic boobs and Mandy Patinkin’s even more epic beard.

The series, which is adapted from Gideon Raff’s Israeli television program “Prisoners of War” and is produced by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa (both of “24″), has been Showtime’s highest-rated first-year drama series since making its debut earlier this month. It debuted with 1.08m viewers and viewership has continued to rise, with the most recent fourth episode pulling in 1.1m. "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: "Alex and Howard 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."


The countless accolades for the show keep coming as the show gets deeper into its debut season. Newsweek calls it "the most addictive show of the season." The New York Times notes "Homeland is well made and gripping…impossible to resist" and TV Guide says "Hands-down the best new drama on TV." USA Today raves "Stands out as the season's best new drama." "Grade: A" says The Boston Globe. The LA Times relays "It's the first telling of a post-9/11 story that is all the things it should be: politically resonant, emotionally wrenching and plain old thrilling to watch." Writing on Hitfix, Alan Sepinwall insists Homeland has easily been the best new show of the fall season, comedy or drama. The only concern anybody seems to have with it, he notes, is whether it can sustain its quality and keep its story going in an interesting, plausible manner for multiple seasons.



Showtime said that production on the new season would begin next spring, giving Ms. Danes’s character plenty of time to refill her illicit supply of Klonopin. Homeland is the first Showtime drama developed under the Nevins regime since he replaced Robert Greenblatt at the network. Given his personal stake, and the uniform rave reviews, renewal wasnt in much doubt. Now it's official, and now we'll see how much life there really is in the concept. Homeland continues on Sundays at 10/9c on Showtime and will be broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK.