BBC will bring "The Hour" back for a second run next year.
The U.S.-based arm of the BBC will co-produce a second six-episode run of the show, which will debut both here and in the U.K. in 2012, BBC America announced Wednesday (Dec. 7).
"'The Hour' successfully launched BBC America's new Dramaville franchise in August by setting the standard for great British drama," says Perry Simon, BBC America's general manager. "[Creator] Abi Morgan and the Kudos production team delivered an extraordinary television experience and when the opportunity arose for us to co-produce a sequel we jumped at it."
Season 2 of "The Hour" will be set in 1957, a year after Season 1. The show is now well-established and has made a celebrity of Hector Madden (Dominic West), but there's still turmoil behind the scenes. Stars Romola Garai, Ben Whishaw, Anna Chancellor, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Oona Chaplin will all return.
They'll be joined by Peter Capaldi ("The Thick of It," "In the Loop"), who will play the new head of news at the BBC; Hannah Tointon ("The Inbetweeners") as a new figure in Hector's life; and Tom Burke ("State of Play") as a rival producer who catches Bel's (Garai) eye.
The story will be told against the back drop of the escalating Cold War and the start of the space race, along with the new government of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
Filming on Season 2 began this week; there's no word on a U.S. premiere date yet.
