Showtime renews Homeland for fourth season

It has drawn criticism for its unbelievable plot twists, but now Homeland is to get a fourth season.

US cable channel Showtime announced today it will be recommissioning Homeland and Masters of Sex for another series.

The fourth series of Homeland and the second season of Masters of Sex will air in 2014, each with 12 episodes.

Homeland series three returned to Channel 4 earlier this month with 3.31 million viewers, but the Emmy award-winning drama has since seen a decline in ratings.

The CIA drama attracted its lowest ever ratings on Channel 4 a week ago, pulling in 1.94 million viewers.

The third series of Homeland has already drawn criticism following a far-fetched second season.

Claire Danes’ character Carrie Mathison has come under fire for being tiresomely shouty and abrasive, while critics have been unimpressed by the absence of Damian Lewis’ character Nicholas Brody, who did not make an appearance until the third episode.

Masters of Sex, which debuted two weeks ago in Britain, attracted 1.43 million viewers to watch its premiere.

In the US, both shows are broadcast back-to-back on a Sunday night. The most recent edition of Homeland attracted 1.8 million, while 1.4 million tuned in to watch Masters of Sex.

David Nevins, president of entertainment at Showtime, said: “Homeland continues to prove its strength for Showtime, and is one of television’s most exciting, provocative and widely-discussed shows.”