Well, well, well. Never let it be said that fan power is a thing of the past. After last week saw NBC cancel Timeless after just one season, the network has now backtracked on that decision and instead decided to confirm the show for a second year due to the strong fan response to their initial decision.

Over the weekend, NBC’s Robert Greenblatt explained this change of heart, saying, “We heard from fans and the outcry and we woke up the next morning and thought, ‘Let’s figure out how to bring it back.’ We went back to the drawing board in every way.”

Greenblatt continued, “We all love the show creatively and we were hoping for it to have a bigger audience in the fall. Once in came off the schedule in midseason, we thought, ‘Well, we love it, but can it grow, and do we have a place for it,’ and all those questions that you ask yourself when you’re looking at the renewal of a show that is a borderline.”

Co-created by The Shield’s Shawn Ryan and Supernatural’s Eric Kripke, the show’s first season focussed on a team travelling through various points in time as they sought to track down a terrorist. Overflowing with conspiracy ideals and genuine character development, Timeless became a favourite of many a genre fan. Despite being praised by many, the series ultimately didn’t draw in enough eyes and ratings numbers for NBC to deem it worthy of renewing for a second season – and thus, the network initially made the call to scrap the series.

In fairness to Timeless, the early ratings were encouraging. The problem, though, was that the numbers simply weren’t what NBC were hoping for, with the network hoping to mirror the success and popularity of the likes of Blindspot and The Blacklist. By having their Taken series take over Timeless’ timeslot, the writing seemed sadly on the wall, and then NBC finally pull the plugged on Timeless while renewing Taken for a second year – despite Taken not actually grabbing as much ratings as Timeless.

Now, though, NBC execs have had a change of heart, and that’s something that will please all involved with the show and its small-yet-committed fan base.

Taking to Twitter, show co-creator Shawn Ryan enthused, “Can’t thank the #Timeless fans enough for fighting so hard for us online and spreading the word about the show. Can’t wait to show you more.”

Star Abigail Spencer added, “I have never seen a show be cancelled & but days later renewed because of just general love from the people involved & the fans. Everyone knows #TheComeback is my favorite show ever. I just can’t believe I get to be a part of a #comeback story too!!! The BEST kind.”

So there we have it, Timeless isn’t as dead as we were first led to believe!

As ever, expect more on all of this as we get it.