Apparently the new series on BBC America’s Supernatural Saturday lineup, ‘Atlantis’, just delivered the highest rated series premiere of all time. So it’s no wonder that after a single episode the series would be picked up for a second season. Much like ‘Orphan Black‘ with its own pickup for a second season, BBC still has a huge creative success for new franchises when it comes to science fiction and fantasy!

With just over 838,000 viewers they clearly have a new hit on their hand. It’s no wonder as the show is by the creators of both ‘Merlin’ and ‘Misfits’. so have a bit of a track record of successful shows under their belts.

For those not familiar with the program, here’s a synopsis:

“Atlantis” follows Jason (Jack Donnelly), Hercules (Mark Addy) and Pythagoras (Robert Emms) who battle against some of the most famous names of Greek legend, often in unexpected forms.

According to BBC America’s senior vice president of programming, Richard De Croce:

“’Atlantis’ is off to a fantastic start and is the centerpiece of our Saturday nights for the next 12 weeks. We’re committed to bringing our viewers even more entertaining episodes inspired by Greek mythology from Howard and the talented team in Season 2.”

If every episode gets this positive of a reaction, there’s a good chance two seasons will quite quickly turn into three. The executive producers of the show, Johnny Capps, Julian Murphy and Howard Overman, are happy to see it continue and “are all thrilled at Urban Myth Films that ‘Atlantis’ has been re-commissioned and look forward to continuing the legend next year.”

It may have helped the show that it premiered on the same day that the recent ‘Doctor Who’ 50th anniversary special was on which had 3.6 million viewers itself on the same day. Hopefully the carry over from that didn’t just bump the ratings of ‘Atlantis’ for one day, but we’ll soon find out with next week’s episode which will only have a repeat of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ as a lead in.

The series stars Jack Donnelly, Mark Addy, Robert Emms,  Jemima Rooper, Aiysha Hart, Sarah Parish, and Juliet Stevenson. The current cast of characters are expected to all return for Season 2, as well.

Have you watch ‘Atlantis’? What do you think? Does it deserve a second season?

‘Atlantis’ airs Saturdays at 9pm ET on BBC America.

Source: The Wrap