Preacher season 2 is happening as AMC officially deems series a success

Dominic Cooper stars as lead in the cult comic book adaptation

Having aired Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead - which is currently one of the world's most-watched TV dramas - US network AMC probably felt a small amount of pressure to find another hit series to bolster their already impressive repertoire.

Preacher could well be it; only halfway into its debut season, a second has been confirmed with a total episode count of 13 - three more than its first.

The series follows Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), a Texan preacher with the ability to make people do whatever he commands.

This being based on a graphic comic book series (much like The Walking Dead), much of the show's charm comes from the irreverent supporting characters surrounding Cooper's protagonist.

These include Custer's ex-girlfriend Tulip (Ruth Negga), two fallen angels (Tom Brooke and Anatol Yusef) and, perhaps most memorably, an Irish vampire named Cassidy played in scene-stealing fashion by This Is England actor Joseph Gilgun.

Variety reports that the second season will air in 2017. UK residents can currently watch the show on Amazon Prime.

The series is produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (This Is the End) alongside showrunner and writer Sam Catlin, with episodes debuting weekly every Monday.