Syfy picks up Merlin season four rights

{jcomments on}Fantasy drama series Merlin will once again air on Syfy in America as the broadcaster picks up the rights to the fourth season, reports TV Guide.

Syfy has previously aired the second and third seasons of the BBC Arthurian drama. The first series of Merlin aired on NBC but didn’t rate particularly well. However, for Syfy the series has been a moderate success and ratings for the third season rose – it had an average of 1.9 million viewers.  

The fourth season was commissioned by the BBC in the UK late last year but was originally only due to run for 10 episodes. This was due to budget constraints at the corporation which is seeking to cut costs in the light of a licence fee freeze. The BBC later relented with Merlin though and bumped the season order up to its traditional 13 episodes.

The fourth season of Merlin will see the regular cast such as Colin Morgan, Bradley James and Anthony Head return with some guest-stars already confirmed such as Phil Davis and Gemma Jones.