Showtime Renews ‘Penny Dreadful’ For Second Season

SHOWTIME has picked up a second season of its critically acclaimed drama series PENNY DREADFUL, it was announced today by David Nevins, President, Showtime Networks Inc. The network has given an expanded order of ten episodes to the series. Created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar® nominee John Logan, PENNY DREADFUL has been embraced by the network’s subscribers, drawing 4.8 million weekly viewers across platforms since its launch. The series, which debuted to rave reviews, has claimed the spot as the network’s No. 1 watched new show ever on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and SHOWTIME ANYTIME® with over 3.6 million viewers on those platforms through the third week of the season. Starring Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton and Eva Green, PENNY DREADFUL will go into production, and will once again shoot on location in Dublin, Ireland for a 2015 launch.

“Picking up PENNY DREADFUL was one of the easiest decisions I’ve made,” said Nevins. “The series has had worldwide impact, drawing big, passionate audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, and more than any other show on our network has hit the bullseye with viewers who want to watch television in all the new ways that are available. John Logan has deftly created an epic series that has drawn raves from a wide-range of audiences from quality drama lovers to critics, to hardcore genre fans. We look forward to working once again with our partners at Sky Atlantic and are extremely excited for what’s in store for season two.”

PENNY DREADFUL’s series premiere was sampled early across online, On Demand and authenticated platforms, and the debut episode now ranks as the biggest sneak preview ever and the largest online streaming sampling ever for SHOWTIME, surpassing RAY DONOVAN and MASTERS OF SEX’s premieres by half a million viewers through the premiere week.