Granted, this one isn't the biggest surprise of the moment, given that all indicators were that Heroes was safe for the time being. But nonetheless, NBC has now confirmed that in spite of the hardly-stellar second and third seasons of the show, Heroes is going to get another run to get its act together.

The key factor for NBC is that Heroes does well across the world, and also has a habit of shifting a fair number of DVDs as well. There's also the small matter of Bryan Fuller's return to Heroes, and it's expected that his fingerprints will be all over the fourth season of the show. His input into the back end of season three was certainly welcome, but there's only so much one person can do to turn a juggernaut by that point.

Season four? It might be time to get excited about Heroes again, even if you can't help but feel this is their last chance to get things right...

The show will return in the Autumn...