'The Tudors' gets a third season

A third season of The Tudors will be made this year, it has been confirmed.

The period drama series - which airs on BBC Two in the UK - has been renewed by Showtime in the US.

Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's entertainment president, confirmed that Jonathan Rhys Meyers would return as King Henry VIII.

"The Tudors is now a fixture for us at Showtime, and we're on our way to completing the entire saga of all six wives of Henry VIII," he said.

Filming will begin in Dublin in June and the third season is expected to go to air in the US later this year.