Lucy Lawless might be gone (for now, anyway) but Jamie Bamber and the rest of the crew of the Galactica will be back as Sci Fi has renewed acclaimed drama Battlestar Galactica for a fourth season.

The cabler has ordered a fourth season of BSG for at least 13 episodes, according to a press release from the network.

The series, due to wrap its third season next month, will gear up production for Season Four over the summer and aiming for a January 2008 premiere.

Of course, executive producer David Eick (who's also behind NBC's The Bionic Woman pilot) never feared that a renewal wouldn't materialize. "While we never had any doubt that SCI FI would get behind a fourth season of Battlestar, it's thrilling to finally make it official, and for Ron and I to continue using this great genre to investigate the darker corners of society, politics and humanity," said Eick.

"We're thrilled to bring Battlestar back for another season," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Programming for Sci Fi. "This series has delivered on every level--from the writing to the action to the production values. Sci Fi is proud to be home of the best show on television."

Aw, isn't that sweet? Battlestar Galactica, which has won the prestigious Peabody Award and named one of the 10 Outstanding Television Programs of the Year (two years in a row) by AFI, has seen an uptick in viewing figures, based on ratings data issued by the cabler. "Taking a Break From All Your Worries" (the Cheers-themed episode) that ran on January 28th delivered 2.5M viewers and 1.6M A18-49, the biggest BSG audience since the second season premiere.

The producers are said to have quite a lot of twists and turns awaiting the audience for the rest of the season (though I do my best to avoid the spoilers) and I'm just frakking glad that the season finale (a cliffhanger I'm sure) won't be the end of BSG.